


Lockdown

by MsGordo_Writings



Category: Angel: the Series
Genre: Abandoned Work - Unfinished and Discontinued, Bad Ass Cordelia, Blood and Gore, Canon-Typical Violence, Enemies to Friends to Lovers, Gen, Warnings In Chapter Notes, not really - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-01
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 02:00:36
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 36,636
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22515874
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsGordo_Writings/pseuds/MsGordo_Writings
Summary: Written in response to a challenge on the fan page to have Lindsey and one of the white hats trapped in Wolfram and Hart for the night.
Kudos: 1





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> These are the writings of [ MsGordo](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kipplemine/profile), posted here with the author's express permission in order to preserve them from Yahoo Groups. If I have missed any tags or warnings, please feel free to let me know.

Author: Karen

Title: Lockdown

Timeline: Directly after Angel fires the Batpack in Season 2.

Disclaimer: Sadly not mine but willing to submit a reasonable offer for the use of Lindsey and the boys at the Hypernion.

Feedback: Much appreciated as it’s my first fic to be submitted for general consumption and I’m nervous!

Dedication: To Chrissy for being so nice and helping out a complete stranger and to Sunny(?) for her encouraging comments and giving me my first ever feedback.

Rating: Have no idea as I am new to this but around a film 12/15 at the mo and progressing to an 18 later. (God and Cordy and Lindsey willing)

Archive: If you want it all you have to do is ask!

Written in response to a challenge on the fan page to have Lindsey and one of the white hats trapped in Wolfram and Hart for the night.

  
  
  
  


Part 1.

  
  


Cordelia froze as the overhead lights flicked on and spun round in a quick movement to face the doorway. 

‘Oh crap.’ 

She closed her eyes, counted to three and opened them again. Nope, no good. Lindsey McDonald was still standing blocking her way with a big ole shit-eating grin on his face and a pair of handcuffs dangling from his raised hand. She backed up a few graceful steps and flicked her eyes around the room searching for inspiration. Nothing. She sighed deeply. Could she say screwed? 

Lindsey’s grin stretched and he followed her into the room and deftly kicked and locked the door behind him, Cordy’s eyes widened and she moved to put the large wooden desk between the lawyer and herself. Breaking into Wolfram and Hart’s offices had seemed like such a good idea earlier that evening. 

Gunn and Wes had left her at their new offices with strict instructions not to move until they got back from killing whatever the thing was that her latest mind numbing vision had shown her. The demon or whatever had been big, ugly and had smelled  _ really _ bad so she hadn’t made too much protest when they had strode heroically out into the night although she had to admit the pair of them bickering over who got to use the big axe this time probably didn’t help their bad ass personas any. Two hours went by and the boys hadn’t bothered to return and slowly Cordy had begun to sink into a funk. Oh hell, who was she kidding? She started to brood a la Angel and the more she thought about the situation the more she became convinced that the solution lay in Evil Lawyer Mecca. 

She didn’t dwell on the personal issues they all had with Angel. She was after all a professional and Angel could go ram his perfect, gel covered head up his tortured ass for all she cared. The prospect of evil Angel, syphilis crazed Darla, plain old crazed Druscilla  _ and _ the legions of hell that the evil lawyers had at their command were her problem, being a warrior of the light and all. She was willing to stake her life on their being some kind of information lying around at the offices that the white hats might be able to use. The more she thought about it the more she became convinced that she was right and the more she convinced herself the stronger the feeling became that she had to go  _ right now _ . Kinda like when the mall had a blue cross 75% off everything day and she still had a good six hours of the workday ahead of her. 

Breaking in was easy she’d stood enough times as Angel’s lookout that she made it through the sewers and up through the traps in the basement and on to the main stairwell in under twenty minutes and then it was just a matter of going up. She checked every floor she came too methodically keeping an eye out for the more obvious security measures, cameras, telepaths, vampires, and magical symbols lying around for no apparent reason and then on the twenty-first floor she found it. A huge double door with the words ‘Lindsey McDonald’ on a bright shiny plaque right next to it. 

Cordy had nearly whooped out loud before she remembered she was meant to be stealthy cat-burglar girl and instead contented herself with skipping through the door and sticking her tongue out at the nameplate as she went past. In thirty minutes she had gone through every draw and cupboard in the place and had kept half an ear open for the sound of approaching footsteps but she had gradually become so engrossed in what she had found that all thoughts of covering her ass had fled. And now she was trapped in a locked office with one of the people she hated most in the world and he was  _ smiling. _ And tutting. Don’t forget the incredibly annoying and patronising tutting. She scowled as he raised his good hand and wagged a finger at her. Oh yeah, she was  _ so _ gonna stuff that down his throat before this was over.

‘Ms Chase, this is unexpected.’ 

Cordelia snorted, the man had definitely watched one too many Bond films she half expected a fluffy white cat to be jumping into his arms. Or he’d grow one of those long mustaches that all the villains on Bravo seemed to have just so they could twirl them, she smirked as he raised one eyebrow in a move so Acme School of Villainy it was truly ridiculous; any minute now he’d be telling her he liked a girl with spirit and leering down her top. She kept the desk between them and drew herself up to her full height 

‘Bite me’. 

He looked disappointed for a moment and then his face settled into the carefully neutral expression she knew and would love rip off his skull. With her teeth.

‘I don’t have to tell you how much trouble you’re in. Breaking and entering, unlawful damage..’ 

Cordelia interrupted with her patented Queen C sneer

‘Assault and Battery.’ 

She folded her arms and looked down her nose adding icily 

‘Pending.’ 

He grinned back at her and for a brief second she caught a glimpse of the wholesome farm boy he might have been once and then the evil lawyer face came down again. 

‘Actually I was going for murder one, why restrict yourself?’ 

Cordelia placed her hands on her slim hips, tapped her foot and continued to look supremely unimpressed 

‘Sweetie I have been threatened and tortured by the very best and trust me when I say you aren’t even in the top twenty when it comes to idle threats.’ 

She flicked her newly cut and streaked hair from her face and continued with contempt 

‘Hell,  _ I _ scare me more than you do.’ 

  
  


Her gaze raked over him from head to foot and she sniffed with disdain 

‘And if you don’t mind me saying so for the money you sold out for you’d think that you might make a little bit more effort with your wardrobe, that suit is so last year it’s not funny. I know dead guys with more taste than you.’ 

She casually rested one hip one the corner of the desk and began to swing her foot 

‘Considering Angel has spent over half his time on this planet a completely guilt ridden manic depressive you really might want to take that advice on board.’ 

She grinned as she watched his face cloud in confusion at her surprisingly upbeat attitude to getting caught deep behind enemy lines and leaned forward just enough to allow a small amount of cleavage to show as her typically low cut top gaped open. His eyes widened fractionally and his breathing sped up just a tad. Oh yeah, she still had it. 

‘Now we both know that you aren’t going to do anything to me or set me up to take the fall for whatever unfortunate mistake you guys have made this time cos’ Angel will come down on you so fast you won’t even see him coming.’ 

She leaned forward a little bit more and wondered briefly if she should write this conversation down for him to go over later the way his eyes were focused on her chest she doubted he was even aware she was speaking. This was even easier than persuading Wes and Gunn they really did want to watch ‘Breakfast at Tiffany’s’ again for the fourth night in a row  _ and  _ she didn’t even have her uplift bra on! She watched as he dragged his tongue over suddenly dry lips and then tried to focus on her face again. Cordy sighed and took pity on the guy and leaned back so the tantalising cleft between her breasts was removed from his line of sight and after that he seemed to find it much easier to collect his thoughts. 

Lindsey drew in another ragged breath and managed to drag his mind forcibly out of the gutter and focus on the matter in hand. Cordelia Chase dropped into his lap like a gift from the gods…well considering whom he worked for  _ that _ wasn’t very likely but it was definitely a lucky break. He focused determinedly on her face and worked up a fairly convincing sneer 

‘I have it on good authority that you’re on your own. Angel cut you loose without a second thought and walked away, what makes you think that he’ll give a damn now?’ 

He felt a glow of satisfaction at the shocked look on her face and then realised it wasn’t pain at his cruel words but genuine surprise and then she did the unexpected and laughed. Long, loud completely genuine laughter and she showed no signs of stopping, he scowled and waited for her to finish and eventually the very unladylike snorts and guffaws slowed to hiccups and then faint intermittent giggles. 

Cordelia wiped her eyes and shook her head and then Lindsey stared as she eyed him with something almost like pity 

‘Lindsey in all the time you’ve worked for this company are you telling me you never took Vampire 101? It doesn’t matter whether Angel can’t stand the sight of me and never wants to see me again for the rest of his un-life, which, by the way, is going to be incredibly short unless he stops with this Darla crap pretty soon because I’ll stake his ass myself. In his head and in all the other undead people’s heads I belong to him.’ 

She stood and swayed across the room to stand in front of the lawyer and briefly enjoyed being able to look into someone’s eyes rather than up their nose thanks to the incredibly tall men she did hang around with 

‘He claimed me as his when I first hooked up with him after that Russell Winters guy. It’s not about friends or family any more, if you lay one finger on me you’ve messed with his possession and vampires do not deal well with that.’ 

She grinned and flicked his nose with one perfectly manicured nail 

‘Think of me as a mint condition, first edition White Album and you’ll get some idea of how pissed he’ll be if you break me.’ 

She stepped back and tipped her head to one side to look at him considering 

‘Of course you’ve actually made things a whole lot worse by driving him completely round the twist. Last time you saw him he fed you and all your little evil lawyer friends to his insane ex-honeys, imagine what he’ll do if you break his album and don’t give it back.’ 

She sighed dramatically 

‘ I’ve met Angelus and believe me; he is  _ not _ a laugh a minute guy. The things that guy can do with a puppy and some fish…do you have any pets Lindsey?’ 

Cordelia cocked her head innocently to one side and ended her sentence on a perky note even Willow would be proud of. She smiled as Lindsey blinked down at her and she realised he was in fact two or three inches above her in height which was kinda nice, just right in fact. She shook her self mentally, focus Cordy we don’t care how cute the evil lawyer is the key word here is  _ evil _ . Although he does have the prettiest blue eyes. She blinked and took another step back and watched him suck in some deep breaths and felt the need for some serious respiratory aid herself. Lindsey McDonald was  _ not _ cute he tried to kill her and her friends on a semi-regular, almost recreational, basis this was  _ so  _ not a man she could get jiggy with.

Lindsey for his part was wondering if the seer had some other gifts from The Powers that his sources had failed to inform him of. What were those things called that ensnared men? Suckas…something. Demons he knew they were demons, whatever you do,  _ do not _ focus on Cordelia Chase sucking  _ anything.  _ That was not a good place to go if you needed to concentrate on being arch-villain guy. Which he did. Gifts like having a direct link to The Powers in his grip did not come along every day and he needed to focus on that rather than the vessel it came in. 

Succubus that was it! She was obviously a Succubus.

Cordy watched in fascination as the young man stumbled back a few paces and began eyeing her warily she suppressed a triumphant grin and sent a brief prayer of thanks to Angel for the whole claiming thing. The big, anguished, self-centred, hair shirt wearing weenie. 

At the time she had been less than impressed when he’d told her what he had done. Just arrived in L.A. and about to embark on a glittering career as star of the stage and screen and glamorous consort to whatever young actor was this week’s next big thing the absolute last thing she needed was to be tied down to a two hundred and change year old vamp with personality issues and a face like a permanent rainstorm. Then Doyle had died and she’d become pregnant and then Wolfram and Hart had tried to kill her and then it was… nice. Belonging to someone like that. Someone who would come after her no matter what it took and whoever he had to go through, she’d never had that before and it was nice to finally feel like someone’s family and to be loved just because she was herself and couldn’t be used for anything. She blinked back tears as she thought of Angel when he had fired them all and the Angel that had taken a frightened displaced ex-May queen under his wing and given her a family. The big doofus.

Lindsey felt something clutch at his heart as he watched the sudden tears fill her eyes and made a move towards her before it clicked he was meant to be torturing the girl for information not comforting as she struggled for composure. Her eyes flicked up at his movement and in a move so fast he could have sworn he imagined it she wiped her eyes, ran practised fingers through her hair and pasted the ‘come bite me’ smile on her face again. She moved back against the desk and cocked her head to one side waiting for him to make the next move. Right then he would. Right. As soon as he figured out what it would be. Damned if the little bitch’s grin hadn’t widened knowingly as he stood undecided before her. She shrugged and said sympathetically 

‘I get that a lot.’ 

Lindsey shook off his body’s spontaneous reaction to the flash of perfect white teeth and said 

‘Excuse me?’ 

Cordelia smiled again and hitched up so she sat on the desk with both legs swinging looking for the entire world like a six-year old at her father’s office. 

‘Gunn calls it the ‘kill me or kiss me dilemma’’ 

She frowned in sudden thought and then fixed her brown eyes on him again 

‘Actually he calls it the ‘screw me or beat me bloody dilemma’ but I like my phrasing better.’ 

Lindsey shook his head slightly to clear it and stared back in confusion as Cordelia sighed 

‘Look I’ll make it real simple for you. I look good. I dress to look good. What you see is something that I spent a lot of years getting just right so I have the advantage over men.’ 

She inclined her head 

‘Men like you. Now you see a girl in front of you that you find attractive.’ 

She held up a hand to stall his instinctive denial and added hurriedly 

‘Nothing wrong with that it’s the way it is, the way its meant to be. The thing is you can’t see past that to who, or what, I am. To you I’m Angel’s sidekick, the mouthy secretary with the chest.’ 

She slid off the desk slowly and helplessly Lindsey followed the line of her body as it slid bonelessly forward and glided across the room towards him. Cordelia didn’t know whether to laugh or cry. She had just laid it out for him that her moves were as calculated as they come and still the big idiot fell for it. She kicked out suddenly and took his legs out from under him. In one swift controlled move she followed him down flipped him over and used his own handcuffs to secure his hands behind his back, another quick tug and he lay on the floor staring up at her as she rose above him and placed her hands on her hips to say flatly 

‘It never occurred to you to think that’s a girl who grew up on a hell mouth, has been fighting assorted creatures of the night for the last four and a half years and has had an active role in saving the world at least three times that she knows of.’ 

She sniffed and walked away to listen at the door feeling his incredulous gaze on her, satisfied that they were in no danger of being discovered she paced around the office again continuing her search and saying in an even tone 

‘Or that Angel, Gunn and Wes can’t be there every second of the day to protect me so maybe, just maybe, there’s a reason that girl is still alive other than her men folk are really good at riding to her rescue.’ 

She sank to her haunches in front of him and half-smiled 

‘Did you really think the visions were the only reason they kept me around?’ 

Lindsey stared up wordlessly as she patted him on the head and with great relish mimicked his own sorrowful tutting from just a few short minutes before 

‘Lindsey, Lindsey, Lindsey how little you know.’ 

She came to her feet again and moved back to his desk and continued to speak as she glanced through the files that she had abandoned when he had entered. 

‘Now the way I see it you are  _ totally _ at my mercy so we can go through the whole pointless, and might I say boring, ritual of me threatening you and you being all heroic and martyr like or we can cut to the chase and you can give me any helpful information you might have on Darla and any other evil schemes you got abrewin’. What do you say?’ 

The bright friendly smile she tossed him was so completely at odds with her hard tone that Lindsey was unsure for a moment that he had heard her correctly and then he watched as she drew a very long, sharp knife from behind her back and slammed it point first into his antique, incredibly expensive, desk. He pushed himself into a sitting position and opened his mouth 

‘You don’t have the guts.’ 

Cordelia grabbed the knife handle and pulled and then was around the desk and in front of him so fast that he didn’t have time to draw a breath. 

He did however find time to give a startled yelp as her hand slashed out and very deliberately cut his earlobe, Cordy leant in so her nose was an inch from his own and hissed 

‘You tried to kill me; you tried to kill my friends. When that didn’t work you raised one of the most evil creatures that ever lived from the dead and used her to torment a person I care a lot about. Every day that thing is alive more innocent’s die. Every day Angel isn’t with us feeling the connection to his humanity more people die. You, just by sitting here having this stupid pissing contest with me, are condemning more people to a terrifying and needless death and you think I don’t have the guts to do what needs to be done?’ 

The knife slammed down between Lindsey’s legs just grazing the cloth covering his groin and quivered as it stood point first in the carpet she ignored his panicked scream and grabbed a fistful of his hair yanking so he met her eyes 

‘Think again Perry Mason. Tell me what I need to know,  _ now _ , and I’ll let you go. Don’t and I forget I’m a lady and start remembering all the things I read about Angelus and Darla and spent a lot of money in therapy trying to forget.’ 

She shoved his head away and flashed another blinding grin 

‘ ‘K?’ 

Lindsey could not believe how swiftly the tables had turned on him and just how dangerous this girl, woman, was. All the information he had on her indicated she was nothing more than a wannabe actress with delusions of grandeur. He knew about her father’s fall from grace and how she had taken herself out of her hometown before the fire at her graduation had time to cool down and headed for L.A. without looking back. He knew about the few abortive relationships she had had in the time she had been in town, he even knew that she shared an apartment with a restless spirit but he had never known just how strong she had made herself with her experiences. The girl before him was just twenty but had the poise and confidence of a woman twice her age and the steady stare from those deep brown eyes had him hastily re-evaluating his opinion on just who was the most dangerous of Angel’s supporters. Those eyes promised pain and retribution in unheard of quantities and she would do it all without flinching he had no doubt. The chance to save innocents and bury Darla would not be passed up by Cordelia Chase because he had a pesky case of humanititis. 

He flinched as she gripped the knife by its handle and pulled it free once again then stood, she reached down and pulled him to his feet with a grunt of effort and pushed him into the deep, blood coloured sofa that ran along one wall. 

‘Spill stumpy or I start by cutting off something a lot more important than your hand.’ 

Her gaze rested pointedly for a moment at groin level and then fixed with deadly intent on terrified blue eyes, Cordy raised one eyebrow and waited.

She didn’t know how much longer she could keep this up. The minute the knife flashed to his ear she knew she had made a big mistake and when the bottom of his earlobe flew across the room she very nearly tossed her cookies in his lap. The blood streaming from his ear was threatening the well being of her stomach again and the white terrified look on his face when she slammed the knife between his legs cut deep into her soul. She had to stop herself glancing over her shoulder almost expecting The Powers or their representatives standing behind her shaking their heads in disapproval. She was counting on a few especially vicious visions, at least, as punishment for the whole crazed Druscilla impersonation. She tightened her grip on the knife as she felt her knees begin to weaken and made herself focus on the piece of skin between his eyes and not on the bright red fountain that sprayed from his ear. Jesus it wasn’t possible to bleed to death from a nick to the ear was it? Oh she was  _ so  _ going to hell.

Lindsey watched as her grip on the knife tightened until her knuckles turned white, her eyes fixed with malevolent intent between his eyes and he could almost see her review the torture procedures she had at her disposal. He watched as she licked her lip in an unconscious gesture of hunger and she swayed as she fought against the urge to kill him. Oh god after all the things he had seen and done he was going to die in his own office at the hand of a mere human girl.

Cordy spoke calmly to herself in the privacy of her own head 

_‘For god’s sake its not like he doesn’t_ _have another earlobe I didn’t lop off his other hand did I? And you have seen blood before, lots of it._ _Just because this wasn’t done in the heat of battle and he’s helpless and you know him doesn’t mean_ _this wasn’t in the name of Light. Don’t look at his ear! Don’t look at his ear!_ ’ 

Buzzing sounded loudly in her own ears and she felt herself sway as she focused unwillingly on his still bleeding ear 

‘ _ Stay away from the ear Cordy. Just don’t look.’  _

A thought rose unbidden in her head 

‘ _God he’s gonna_ _think every time he runs into one of us and we want information its company policy to amputate first and_ _ask questions later. Must send in-house memo: When encountering Lindsey McDonald it is imperative that Angel Investigations operatives only remove body parts that come as a pair, on no_ _account remove anything vital or in the singular. Let’s leave the man a spare people._ ’ 

She giggled slightly hysterically as the image of a severely imbalanced Lindsey entered her head stomping round in a circle on one leg and a crutch waving a stumpy arm in the air directing legions of hell every which way and cursing Angel as he went.

Lindsey winced at the unhinged giggle that escaped Cordelia’s lips as she stared at him. He was reminded unpleasantly of Druscilla and the psycho slayer Faith at the sound and he found himself shivering as he mentally reviewed their case histories. The girl seemed to be going into a trance as she stared at him and her eyes were glazed with what appeared to be bloodlust, she couldn’t take her eyes off his ear for more than a second!

‘ _ Any minute now I’m gonna start yakking and I’m not going to be able to stop _ ’ 

thought Cordelia 

‘ _ Demon blood I can handle. Any of the guys bleeding I can deal and patch ‘em up. Lindsey goddamn McDonald has a little accident and its like I’m seeing my first vamp victim all over again. Jeez, pathetic much?’ _

She ignored the voice in her head that whispered that she was finding it hard to deal because she had intentionally hurt a helpless human and paid some attention to the voice that yelled slightly hysterically that she didn’t even know how to go about torturing someone. Pretty soon the lawyer was going to realise he had been sitting unmolested for a good five minutes and then realise she was holding it together by the barest thread and then she had a problem. A major problem. Even ignoring the smell of blood that was getting more cloying as the tense seconds went by. 

_ I’m going to hurl _ ! 

Oh no, her mistake. What she was  _ actually _ going to do was fall bone-jarringly to the floor and clutch her head in her hands as it threatened to explode under the force of her second freight train vision of the night. Cordy writhed on the floor as she sank under the immense pressure of the images flooding her mind. Flashing images of Lindsey and herself rampaged through her mind with searing intensity. In a dark tunnel, the smell of blood and decay, the sound of pursuers, Lindsey’s terrified face as he went down beneath a dark, unidentifiable form, her own body flying to smash into a roughly carved stone wall and finally a starkly vivid picture of them surrounded by vampires closing in from every direction and Lindsey clutching to his chest a battered brown briefcase. Abruptly the vision left and the pain left behind coupled with the scent of Lindsey’s blood had her abruptly rolling to vomit helplessly onto the hundred dollar a square foot carpet. She brought up everything she had and then dry heaved for a few seconds before coming to her knees and dragging a shaking hand across her mouth. Her head felt ten times too heavy for her body and the aftermath of the pain ran insidiously from the top of her skull in crashing rivers down to the base of her neck and it was hard to form a coherent thought. She took several deep breaths and then staggered to her feet, swayed for a moment and then turned to face Lindsey. 

He stared at Cordelia and then the mess on his carpet and then back to Cordelia she waited until her lungs felt capable of supplying oxygen and then spoke in a low rasp 

‘We need to get out of here. Where are the keys for the cuffs?’ 

He opened his mouth but seemed incapable of speech, Cordelia shook her head in a desperate attempt to clear away the fog that always seemed to cloud her mind after a visit from The Powers and tried again 

‘Lindsey we’re in danger and we need to move  _ now.  _ Where the hell are the keys?’ 

She took a few unsteady steps towards him and that was enough to upset her precarious motor system and she fell in an ungainly heap at his feet. The small, almost inaudible 

‘ Crap.’ 

seemed to jolt Lindsey from his stricken silence and he leaned forward to stare at the top of her head 

What the hell was that about?’ 

Cordelia lifted her head grimacing in pain as she did so 

‘ _ That _ was the Powers telling me in their usual subtle, and incredibly helpful, way that we are in mortal danger. Again.’ 

She braced her hands on his knees and dragged herself to her feet again and then hooked a hand under his arm and dragged him up to face her 

‘Where are the keys?’ 

Lindsey gave a small grin 

‘Three floors down in the corner conference room.’ 

Cordy cursed fluently and impressively for a few brief moments and then spun him to stare at the cuffs binding him. She thought for a few seconds and then spun him back again 

‘If I take off your hand is there any way you can squeeze your wrist out?’ 

His eyebrows went up for a second at the casual way she spoke of his disfigurement and then he remembered that this was the girl that not ten minutes before had drawn his blood and had coldly informed him that his manhood was going to be the next thing to go. To her taking off artificial limbs would be as unimportant in the scheme of things as sneezing. Although, come to think of it, she hadn’t actually specified that it was his false hand she wanted to remove. Lindsey stepped away from her hurriedly and eyed her with a sudden terrifying suspicion and then thought of her face as she had lashed out with her knife and backed away a few steps more.

Cordy stared at the lawyer as he stumbled away from her with a look of revulsion on his face and, despite herself, felt a faint pang of rejection deep inside. Her forthright way with words had gotten her into trouble all her life and the last few years had honed her skills for cutting right to the heart of the matter in communicating with other people. It was hard trying for small talk when you spent most of your waking hours fighting for your life and covered in the insides of otherworldly species and so she learned to budget her words with ruthless precision that she never quite managed to apply to her cash flow. She reached out a hand and saw the young lawyer wince in response 

‘I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sound so callous but we need to get you out of those cuffs.’ 

She took a breath 

‘We’re going to have to fight our way out of here and I can take care of myself but I won’t be able to protect you as well.’ 

She watched as he frowned at her and then abruptly tensed his arms and tested the give of the cuffs, he shook his head 

‘No good. The skin is caught up I can’t turn my wrists.’ 

He watched as conflicting emotions streaked across the young girl’s face and a small part of him was stunned that the savage of a few moments ago would offer him more compassion in a couple of seconds than he had ever received from his supposed friends and co-workers over his lost appendage. He cocked his head to the side and realised with amazement that he also felt the tiniest bit guilty for his reaction to her offer to help him out of the handcuffs then he felt the drying blood crack on the side of his neck with his head’s movement and the guilt was abruptly swallowed in white hot fury. What the hell was he thinking? The bitch cut him and had threatened to Bobitt him in his own offices; she deserved every bit of pain that came her way!

Cordelia’s eyes fell on her knife that still lay on the floor and she gave a small triumphant exclamation, that thing wouldn’t do the job but the sturdy little throwing axe in the antique display case by the window would. She crossed quickly to the cabinet and flung it open. Perfect! She grabbed the two-foot long axe and it felt pleasantly familiar in her hand as she turned to Lindsey and said 

‘Come over here and stretch your arms back and as far apart as you can on the desk.’ 

She wasn’t altogether surprised at the outraged yell that followed a short amazed silence 

‘ _ Are you insane?’ _

Lindsey almost fell in the pool of vomit as he turned towards the door and began to run. Cordy had been expecting an extreme reaction and almost before Lindsey had begun to turn she was moving and caught him in four strides. She gave him no chance to find his balance but yanked him hard and kept hold of him until she could shove him up against the desk. 

‘Look it’s very simple McDonald; we are going to die unless we get moving soon. I can’t go out that door with you as a liability and I can’t leave you here as monster fodder; the guy’s  _ I  _ work for really frown on that sort of thing, I have to take you with me.’ 

She raised the axe 

‘The cuffs have to come off. Lean back against the desk, stretch and spread your arms and  _ don’t move _ !’ 

She fixed him with a hard chocolate glare and gave him another abrupt shove as she moved around the desk; Lindsey swallowed in an effort to bring some moisture back to his barren mouth and then cautiously allowed his arms to go back across the surface of the desk. He was acutely aware of Cordelia behind him and flinched as she shifted into position 

‘Lindsey stretch your wrists as far apart as you can.’ 

The gentle tone of voice Cordy used was a direct contrast to the fear churning through her; she took a better grip on the axe handle and consciously focused on his false hand. If she misjudged her swing she at least intended to make sure of severing his falsie rather than the pink and helpless one at the end of the other arm. She took a sudden deep breath and then swung with everything she had and watched as the blade slammed through the sturdy metal chain joining the two metal bracelets. She allowed herself a brief moment to slump with bone-deep relief and then she turned away and crossed to the cabinet again in search of more usable weapons. Lindsey watched her back for a moment and contemplated just how easy it would be walk up behind her and knock her out and then he remembered her screaming in agony and fear on the floor and the helpless and desperate way she had vomited when the visions had passed and he spoke 

‘You aren’t kidding are you? We really are in danger?’ 

Cordy turned to face him and winced as the movement caused her headache to swell and break against the wall of her skull with the force of a tidal wave 

‘Yes. I don’t know what the things are that are that are out there but I know they want us dead.’ 

She paused for a moment and then said hesitantly as though she were testing an idea 

‘At least…. they want you dead. I don’t think they care about me one way or the other.’ 

Her face creased with puzzlement as she stared at him in bemusement 

‘I can’t explain it but I think its you they want.’ 

With a brisk shrug she turned her back on him again and stuck her head back inside the wooden cupboard her muffled voice floating back to him 

‘Anyway we can’t worry about that now. My ass is on the line with yours and I am much too pretty to die young.’ 

She turned back to him with a grin and threw a short handled sword to him 

‘Saddle up Lord of Evil, you’re about to have a first hand experience of life on the front line as a soldier of light.’ 

They both stared at the sword, which lay where it had fallen on the floor as he completely failed to catch it, Cordy sighed 

‘So being a lawyer and all; you can do wills right?’ 

‘I wasn’t expecting it!’

Coredelia’s lips twitched in a wry grin 

‘Lindsey, at the risk of sounding patronising, the legions of the undead do not give you a five second heads up before they try to severe you from the mortal plane, they pretty much just do it.’ 

She walked to where she had dropped her knife as the vision had struck grabbing her axe and wrinkling her nose at the vomit on the floor as she did so 

‘Just stay behind me and watch our tails and I’ll try to keep us out of as much trouble as I can.’ 

She bent and picked the knife up and Lindsey had a glimpse of a thin leather sheath as she casually tucked it behind her back and under her sweater and then she turned with the axe held casually over one shoulder 

‘So, sorry about your carpet and the blood-letting and everything but can we please get the hell out of here?’ 

Lindsey kept his eyes fixed on hers as he bent to retrieve his own weapon 

‘This isn’t over Coredelia. I won’t forget what happened here tonight and when we get out of here you better watch your back.’ 

Cordy grinned in genuine amusement 

‘So do you practise being evil arch-villain guy in front of the mirror? It must be hell trying to get the right menacing look and tone with those freckles and  _ that  _ nose.’ 

She turned and walked towards the door with an infuriating lack of concern at his threats and pressed her ear to it before easing it open and waving for him to follow her out. Lindsey gritted his teeth and stomped after her promising himself before long he would have Cordelier Chase helpless and in his power and begging for mercy. 

And then she could damn well explain that comment about his nose. What the hell was wrong with it anyway? He lifted hand to check it just at the moment Cordy turned to make sure he had followed her out and the damn girl snorted as she saw the gentle and confused probing of his face. 

Yep, helpless, begging for mercy and, if there was any justice in this world, buck naked and then he’d see just how many body parts Ms. Chase had that he could poke fun at. Or hot pokers. Whatever was handy.


	2. Chapter 2

Author: Karen

Title: Lockdown

Timeline: Directly after Angel fires the Batpack in Season 2.

Disclaimer: Sadly not mine but willing to submit a reasonable offer for the use of Lindsey and the boys at the Hypernion.

Feedback: Much appreciated as it’s my first fic to be submitted for general consumption and I’m nervous!

Dedication: To Chrissy for being so nice and helping out a complete stranger and to Sunny(?) for her encouraging comments and giving me my first ever feedback.

Rating: Have no idea as I am new to this but around a film 12/15 at the mo and progressing to an 18 later. (God and Cordy and Lindsey willing)

Archive: If you want it all you have to do is ask!

Written in response to a challenge on the fan page to have Lindsey and one of the white hats trapped in Wolfram and Hart for the night.

Chapter 2.

Ten minutes later and Lindsey was ready to scream. They had crept down two floors without seeing a single soul and he was seriously considering the possibility that Cordelia had put on the performance of a lifetime as part of a devious plot to lull him into a false sense of security and weasel information out of him. The girl stalked ahead of him, her battle axe gripped in her hand scanning around every bend with a look of fierce concentration on her face and her body held in a rigid posture. Every sense and muscle of her body seemed to be tuned to pick up the presence of a threat and, unless he was much mistaken, she seemed almost eager for a fight.

“So do you do this a lot?” 

His voice echoed unnaturally loud in the deserted corridor and he was rewarded with a furious look over her shoulder 

“Gee Lindsey why don’t you just jump up and down and yell ‘come and get us’ that way the bad guys will find us  _ so _ much quicker!” 

Her voice was lowered to the slightest whisper but was laced with venom as she froze in place as the wall came to an end and she leaned slowly around the corner to check all was silent before proceeding. 

He opened his mouth to deliver a scathing retort and frowned as her hand clamped across his face and she shook her head frantically, he had reached up to push her wrist down when he heard the voices float down the corridor towards them. They were too far away to pick out distinct words but there were definitely more than two and one in particular caused an outbreak of goose bumps to spring all over his body. The tone was low and slow but with an intensity of pitch that bypassed the thin veneer of genetically inherited civility of two thousand or more years and went straight to the vestiges of primal instinct that lurked in every human soul. The message was clear, stay and die or flee and hide. Cordelia met his eyes with perfect understanding and jerked her head to indicate retreat was the only way to go, he nodded and they began to silently edge back down the passageway hardly daring to breath for fear of alerting the other beings to their presence.

A few minutes later they stood on the stairwell and trying to come up with a plan, Cordy was all for finding the most direct route out of the building and getting the hell out of Dodge but Lindsey on the other hand…

”Look we just find some security guards and have them escort them out, that’s what they get paid for after all!” 

Cordelia groaned and slapped a hand to her forehead and winced as her headache popped up to say hello again 

“Lindsey we don’t know if we can trust the guards! They could be hunting round the building as we speak desperate to get their hands on your high priced ass.” 

She tried for a reasonable tone 

“My vision is an indication of what might happen if we can’t prevent it  _ not  _ a preview to what we can expect to see in a couple of hours. If we act sensibly we can probably avoid a lot of trouble and keep ourselves alive till sunup which, I don’t have to tell you, is a damn good plan!” 

She reached out and laid a hand on his arm and squeezed gently 

“I’ve been here before, many times, and as much fun as it is being chased around deserted buildings at night by the big bad of the moment after the sixth or twentieth time it gets  _ really _ old. I’ve stayed alive this long because I know when to lay low and beat a strategic if undignified retreat. Please, if you want to live  _ listen  _ to me.” 

Lindsey stared down at the ridiculously earnest face lifted to his and saw underneath the veneer of capability a very real fear, his ego rather than his brain made him say with a sneer 

“ I thought you could take care of yourself. You remember, hell mouth survivor and all. Not so brave without your demon boss and muscle boys when it comes down to it are you?” 

Cordy reared back as though she had been slapped and then hauled off and slapped Lindsey

“How dare you?” 

She took an unsteady breath and said in a low, furious voice

“How dare you judge me? I live like this  _ every night _ of my life. You…you sit on your rich, pampered ass day after day and never give a thought to the creatures you unleash on thousands of innocents and now  _ you _ dare to judge  _ me _ because I’m trying to get us out of here without getting either one of us killed? You sicken me.” 

She slammed her hand flat against his shoulder and slammed him against the wall “This is how it’s gonna go. You are going to do exactly as I say or I will leave you where you stand and you can take your chances on your own and I hope when the end comes your last thought is of me and the deaths you have caused over the years and maybe you might feel a tenth of the fear and horror they felt as  _ they _ died by your order.” 

She stepped back and wiped her hand unconsciously on her pants leg as though it had something unclean on it 

“If you want to live follow me if not say hi to your lawyer buddies in hell.” 

She turned without another word and headed down the stairs to the next level, Lindsey’s mouth opened and closed soundlessly for a moment as he tried to assimilate the almost forgotten emotion that had stolen his voice and then it came to him in a flash of clarity. Shame, his entire body was writhing within its skin as shame flooded every cell of his being. The girl had looked at him as though he had crawled out of a pit and had crapped on her shoes. She had no time for his power or his position the only thing she saw was a weak man who had made him self anew by using and destroying the lives of others. He shook his head and followed her down the stairs his gaze slightly unfocused with the unpleasant thought that when it came to it that was all there was to him, no real substance just a puppet master being operated by the strings of others.

They proceeded in silence for a few minutes, Cordelia still clearly vibrating with repressed fury until they came to level twelve and behind the doors leading to the floor came the sound of singing. Cordy held up a hand in silence and Lindsey ground to halt still reeling from the ticking off he had just received, they listened for a few minutes as a very loud and slurred voice sang the same two lines over again.

“Uptown girl, she’s bin livin’ in her up town world,

Bet she neva had a back street guy, bet her mama neva told her why,

I’m gonna try for an uptown girl.”

Cordy winced 

“I changed my mind, start yelling for the bad guys.” 

Lindsey gave an involuntary smile at her pained whisper and then frowned as she eased the heavy door open a notch and a balding overweight security guard came into view slumped in a chair waving a bottle of whisky in the air several beats out on the song. Cordelia exchanged confused looks with Lindsey and stared at the man as he kicked up the volume on his song a notch and his voice cracked with the effort, Lindsey had just reached out to push past Cordelia and find out what the hell was going on when a glistening silver spike erupted from the man’s chest and pieces of heart and bone flew across the floor. The two in the doorway sucked in shocked breaths as the spike disappeared as abruptly as it had appeared and a figure stepped forward to catch the bottle of whiskey as it fell from the dead fingers 

“I hate to waste good single-malt.” 

He shoved carelessly at the man in the chair and as the body fell forward onto it’s face and dropped gracefully onto the seat in his place. Tall, at least as tall as Gunn, the man’s face was handsome with a slight sheen to it as though he had been dipped in a vat of olive oil. He looked vaguely Latino but his accent was pure California and he dressed in casual, lightweight clothes that Cordelia, veteran of a hundred battles, recognised as ideal battle attire. Particularly when you seemed capable of carrying your weaponry inside your body, which is where, unless she was very much mistaken, that lethal spike had disappeared to. She thought furiously for a moment unsure whether to ease back into the stairwell and hope they could pass unnoticed or attack and hope to take at least one threat out while he was unprepared. The decision was taken out of her hands for the moment when another figure stepped into view and glanced down at the body on the floor with disdain, she felt Lindsey stiffen beside her and then hiss 

“Lilah.” 

Cordelia frowned in confusion for a moment and then realised where she knew the name from, the woman that normally joined in with Lindsey on the whole ‘tormenting Angel till he snapped’ gig. Wait a minute. . .

”Isn’t she meant to be dead?” 

Lindsey rolled his eyes and grimaced as Lilah stepped over the man on the floor and walked to a bank of security screens on the wall before and scanned them briefly before snapping, 

“This is stupid! I need to be able to see the inside of the building to pinpoint his location, for all we know he left hours ago and is at home right now mooning over that vapid blonde corpse.” 

She whipped around and stabbed a blood red talon at the man on the chair

“Stop sitting there and do what I’m paying you to do and  _ find him _ .” 

The man on the chair appeared unmoved by the harsh tone of voice and instead chugged some more whiskey before saying casually 

“You know I have people on every floor of the building. We have three telepaths here and our own guards at every exit. He’s still here. We looped the security camera’s because you wanted no evidence of our presence so although that works in our favour for a clean getaway it also means we can’t use them to locate the prey.” 

He stood and stretched casually

“To add to that we also have to avoid the Wolfram and Hart guards you weren’t able to buy off so that limits us slightly but Lindsey McDonald  _ will _ be dead by morning.” Lilah glared at him for a moment and then turned to stare at the useless screens again, she turned again as a phone went off in the pocket of the man and put it gracefully to his ear

“Yes?” 

He listened in silence and then terminated the call without speaking again

“He’s not alone.” 

Lilah’s eyes widened with shock 

“ _ What _ ?” 

The man shrugged and took another slug of his whiskey before putting the bottle carefully onto the desk behind him 

“He’s not alone. There is someone in this building with him.” 

His eyes crinkled as he smirked 

“From the sounds of it there was quite a party in your friend’s office, blood everywhere, vomit, signs of sharp blades being used and a small piece of flesh was found that looked like an earlobe.” 

His mouth stretched to a full-blown grin 

“I would have it brought to you to see if you could maybe identify it as his but my tracker lost hold of himself temporarily at the smell of the blood and ate it.” 

Lilah stared in disbelief and then gave an exultant laugh 

“So it looks like someone did the job for me?” 

She clapped her hands together in childish exuberance 

“What are the chances?” 

The man stared at her for a moment and then grinned again 

“My guy said the room stank of the Powers.” 

Lilah frowned in confusion and he heaved an exasperated sigh 

“The Powers That Be? Whoever was in that room with your guy works for the light.” 

Lilah continued to frown in confusion for a moment and then blanched in horror 

“Angel! It’s got to be Angel.” 

The man opposite her shook his head slowly as he thought, 

“No, I don’t think so. From what you told me its uncertain who’s side the guy is on these days, if it were him I don’t think that they would have picked up the scent of light so strongly.”

Lilah shook her head 

“But he has worked for The Powers for a long time there would still be some trace of them on him.” 

She glanced around her panic-stricken

“I have to get out of here. If it is him then he won’t stop at Lindsey if he finds out I’m in the building. He’s trying to finish what he started in Holland’s cellar.” 

She snatched up a sleek leather bag from the floor and hurried out of Cordy’s line of sight 

“You have take me downstairs and out of the building, you can call me when you find Lindsey’s body.” 

The man stood still for a moment and then reached out and snagged the bottle of whisky again and strolled out after Lilah.

Cordy sagged with relief and then stepped out cautiously into the hall holding the door open for Lindsey as she did so. She turned to face him and saw the look of pure rage on his face

“Lindsey are you alright?” 

She was alarmed to see his fists opening and closing at his sides and his eyes glazed with fury 

“Hey it’s ok. We’re safe for a moment and I promise you I’ll get you out of here alive.” 

She smiled reassuringly at him but that faded when he spat

“But not in one piece, right Cordelia?” 

Her face fell in confusion and then she suddenly realised what he was mad about 

“Oh.  _ Oh _ . Lindsey I’m so sorry. It was an accident I swear!” 

She backed away as he advanced on her trembling with hate and fury and yelped as she fell over the body on the floor and landed on her butt 

“You cut off my ear!”

“Not all of it! Just the bottom of the lobe, you can hardly see it.” 

Lindsey stood frozen by the sheer audacity of the girl, she really thought that made it so much better that it was only a piece of him rather than the whole? 

“Somebody ate my ear!” 

Cordy scrambled to her feet and placed her hands on her hips 

“Yeah, well somebody ate half my graduating class. Life sucks, deal with it.” 

She scowled and stepped back over the body to get up in his face 

“Buddy, after the scams you’ve pulled in recent years and all the cosmic retribution you’ve got coming you think you’d be a little more forgiving when you get trespassed against. I said I was sorry and it truly was an accident and if you’ll let me I’ll give it my all to stop that skanky not-dead girl killing you to make it up.” 

She broke off her speech to flash a blinding grin 

“What do you say? One nearly whole body in exchange for one measly earlobe deals like that don’t come along everyday you know.” 

Despite himself Lindsey felt his lips twitch as she smiled up at him 

“You really think that will make alright what you did to me?” 

Cordy looked troubled for a moment and Lindsey caught a glimpse of genuine regret flash across her face 

“Not even close but if you think I ‘m gonna let you cut bits off me when we make it out of here to even up the score you’re even loopier than Druscilla.” 

Lindsey laughed out loud then and Cordelia caught another glimpse of the man he might have been if he hadn’t gotten caught up with Wolfram and Hart, he smiled into her eyes and said 

“I think you owe me for more than an earlobe Cordelia.” 

She frowned until he lifted his hand in front of her eyes and then watched the light glint off the plastic. 

“You blame me for that?” 

Her voice was husky with the remembered pain of being trapped screaming in her own head with the forgotten, troubled souls of the city. Lindsey opened his mouth and then paused for a moment 

“Are the visions always like that?” 

Cordy met his eyes and very slowly dropped her habitual cloaking so her eyes and soul lay as naked to his gaze as a newborn child 

“Every time.” 

Lindsey swallowed at the pain, fear and weariness that lay before him and that hung heavily on every syllable of the two words she spoke. He shook his head and spoke through a suddenly dry mouth

“We never thought what it would do to you.” 

He half expected to have his uncertain words flung back in his face but she nodded and said simply 

“Thank you.” 

They held each other’s gaze for a second longer and then broke apart and uncomfortable silence coming between them. Cordy swallowed and looked down at the body on the floor and then knelt and pressed a gentle hand to the pulse point on the neck, Lindsey frowned and said 

“Cordelia he’s dead there’s nothing you can do for him.” 

She stared up at him for a moment suddenly looking a lot younger than her years and then spoke

“I know I just had to check.” 

She came to her feet in one graceful move and looked down for another brief moment 

“I stood there and watched him die and did nothing. If there was any chance he survived then I owe to him to do what I could.” 

She shrugged and turned away

“As it turns out he’s just another human shish-kabob.” 

Lindsey stared at her in genuine bafflement 

“If you’d have tried to do something you’d be dead.” 

It was his turn to stare at the body on the floor

“You can’t save them all.” 

Cordelia gave a bitter smile 

“Congratulations Lindsey you just summed up in one sentence the glaring differences between us.” 

She looked at him with deep disgust 

“I don’t want to save the world I just have to save the person in front of me. Even if that means that one day I die trying.” 

She shook her head and turned away 

“Come on we need to get moving.” 

Lindsey followed her without a word and nearly crashed into her back as she froze in place staring ahead of her, he looked past her and saw two vampires, one in a long coat and Stetson, staring back at them with wide grins.

“Slayer.” 

Cordelia frowned for a moment and then exclaimed in surprised recognition 

“Lyle Gorch!” 

She made sure she was squarely in front of Lindsey and raised one eyebrow

“What rock did you crawl out from under?” 

She pointedly hefted the axe over her shoulder and said calmly

“Didn’t I cream your ass enough for you last time?” 

The vampire looked momentarily discomfited and then gave a shrug and stabbed a finger at her 

“Last time you had help. I only see one Slayer tonight and two of us. The human doesn’t look like good back-up to me.” 

Cordelia risked a quick glance over her shoulder and took in Lindsey’s pale face covered in a light sheen of nervous sweat

“We both know I don’t need help to take you Gorch.” 

She gave a confident grin 

“Just so you know Buffy’s two floors up dusting up a storm as we speak. I wouldn’t want you thinking I don’t play fair after all.” 

She took a measured step towards the two vampires and said in a hard tone 

“Now introduce me to your friend so I know who’s ashes I gonna be washing out of my hair come morning and we’ll get this show on the road.” 

The vampire with Gorch flinched back and then was shoved forward, Cordelia had time to get the impression of a young guy who couldn’t have been more than twenty when he died then she took a step back for balance swung her axe and neatly took his head off. Lindsey had taken a deep breath to shout a warning and unfortunately got a mouthful of vampire dust and promptly choked leaving Cordelia to face Gorch again with an eyebrow raised in query, the vamp blinked in disbelief suddenly looking worried 

“You have two choices John Wayne get the hell out of my way or be prepared to spend the rest of the night being trodden into the carpet.” 

Cordelia’s voice was harsh with fear and anger and the demon before her visibly flinched before saying 

“If you give me the human you can get out of here Slayer nobody needs to get hurt.” 

Despite herself Cordelia took a small amount of genuine pleasure in the tremor of fear in his voice 

“I think you mean  _ you _ don’t need to get  _ dead _ honey, but just so we’re clear the man is under our protection and when have you ever known a Slayer back down from a fight?” 

The demon stared for a second and then turned tail and ran hell for leather back down the corridor, Cordy yelled after him

“You’d better run Gorch! I’ll tell Buffy to keep an eye out for you!” 

She turned to Lindsey and shoved him in the opposite direction 

“Move!” 

Lindsey obediently began to run alongside her managing to pant out 

“Slayer?” 

Cordelia shot him a smile as they pelted down a seemingly endless corridor 

“ Really dumb vamp. Met him in high school, long story explain later.” 

She stopped abruptly and gave a small whoop of delight at the discreet sign by a large oak panelled door she opened it and shoved him inside and locked the door behind them. It took a few moments to locate the lights but eventually she found them and then Lindsey found himself standing in the Partner’s private lounge, Cordy hurried to the bar that ran the length of the room and began examining bottles and selecting ones to stand on the bar in front of her. Lindsey crossed to her and said curiously 

“What are you doing?” 

Cordelia glanced up and waved a twenty-year-old bottle of scotch under his nose 

“Weapons.” 

She gave an exclamation of delight and threw a pile of cotton napkins beside her bottles, Lindsey looked more confused 

“You’re going to bartend them to death?” 

Cordelia stopped for a moment and stared at him with amused pity 

“And you call yourself a demon lover.” 

She held up the whisky and poured it over the pile of napkins and then cracked another bottle when that ran out and repeated the procedure

“You soak the cloth with alcohol and if you need an edge before a fight you light it and throw, the cloth sticks to the vamp if it hits skin and hey presto! Vampire fondue.” 

She gave him another blinding smile and continued throwing piles of napkins on the counter and saturating them with three hundred dollar a pop bottles of scotch. 

“Where did you learn all this?” 

Lindsey asked in fascinated horror, Cordy grinned again 

“Oh please like you don’t know everything there is to know about me down to my bra size.” 

She ducked down under the counter to search for a bag or container to put the ruined cloths in

“I went to school on a hell mouth with a vampire slayer you pick these things up as you go along. I once killed a demon with superglue and the heel of my foot.” 

She saw the revolted look that crossed his face and laughed

“He had transformed into thousands of maggoty things at the time and it was all we could think of. It got the job done.” 

She stared down at the top of the bar for a moment and then said quietly 

“And it helped save Buffy and Angel’s life.” 

Lindsey watched as she carelessly began to stuff the saturated cotton in a tote bag that she first emptied of soiled bar aprons, 

“Do you do that a lot?” 

She flicked him a puzzled look 

“Save Angel’s life I mean.” 

She worked her way down the bar examining under the counter for anything that could be used as a weapon

“Sometimes. We failed horribly once and he went to hell and Buffy died when she fought the Master but other than that we pretty much made it unscathed through high school.” 

She gave a short laugh as she remembered a few highlights of her chequered school career

“Sure made for a hell of an education I know that much.” 

Lindsey frowned as he saw an almost wistful expression cross her face 

“You look like you almost miss it.” 

Cordy shook her head and opened her mouth and then paused for a moment “Sometimes I do. Not just because I had a whole life and money and everything but I was a part of something.” 

She grinned at Lindsey 

“I telling you, you want to be glad you never came up against the Sunnydale crew we would have cleaned your clocks.”

Lindsey snorted 

“Hardly likely Cordelia, a bunch of school kids who fought a few vampires on the side? I don’t think we were in the same league.” 

He gestured with his good hand to the door 

“And if that’s an indication of the level of evil you were facing I’d hardly say you were challenged with or without a Slayer.” 

Far from looking angry or hurt at his casual dismissal of the dangers Cordelia and her friends had faced on the hell mouth she looked amused 

“Gorch? I agree totally a total embarrassment to vampires the world over. Nah, an average week for us was dust a few vamps, kill a couple of demons, usually snakes for some bizarre reason, and then stop the apocalypse in time for Saturday night down at the local club.” 

She pushed her hair back from her face and fixed him with a level look 

“And just for the record Lindsey a Slayer, a Watcher, a witch, a werewolf, a vampire with a soul and two humans does not a bunch of school kids make.” 

She came out from behind the bar with the bag lung across her torso

“And that was just the core. Over the years we’ve had another two Slayers, another witch, a techno-pagan gypsy, occasional demon allies, the Council and now I understand they run with a thousand year old demon and have yet another powerful witch and another vamp. By anyone’s standards that’s not a force to dismiss.” 

She eyed him up and down

“You might want to lose the jacket and tie suit boy. The less you give ‘em to grab hold of the better your chances of getting out of here alive.” 

Lindsey eyed her right back

“That explains  _ your  _ outfit then.” 

Cordelia’s mouth dropped open and she glanced down at herself. Low heeled black boots, black trousers and a green sweater she positively screamed taste and class “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

Lindsey grinned and swept a dismissive hand up and down her body 

“What did you do spray your clothes on this morning?” 

Cordelia gasped in outrage 

“ _ Excuse me _ ? This happens to be a one of a kind sweater buddy and pants by this designer don’t exactly come cheap you know. . . “

“Oh right, you couldn’t afford clothes in the right size? I know how it is trying to stretch a budget.”

“I do not have a budget!”

“Look Cordelia it’s nothing to be ashamed of…”

“ _ I am not ashamed _ !” 

Cordy yelled almost stamping her foot in rage. The goddamn son of a bitch, who the hell did he think he was? Through the red haze floating in front of her eyes she saw Lindsey giving her what could only be described as a smug grin 

“Now, now no need to lose your temper.” 

Her teeth snapped together with a painful sounding click and she glared at him furiously 

“I’ll bow to your superior judgement on this and shed all unnecessary clothing.” 

He waited a beat and then sniggered 

“Just the jacket and tie or should I lose the shirt and pants as well?” 

Cordy snorted

“I thought we agreed I’d be saving your sagging ass this evening not getting up and personal with it.”

“Touché.” 

Cordelia stared at him for a moment and then her lips twitched in an involuntary smile “Hurry up we need to keep moving.” 

She crossed to the door and pressed her ear to it to listen for approaching footsteps. Lindsey shook his head and began to shrug out of his jacket 

‘Are you always so serious?’ 

Cordy turned her head in amazement

“Me? Serious?”

Lindsey pulled on his tie and nodded 

“Yeah, you seem so focused all the time. So…intense.”

“ _ Hello _ paging denial boy. You have noticed that we seem to have half the demons in LA hunting us down like dogs? One of us needs to know what to do in this situation wouldn’t you say?” 

Lindsey nodded and crossed to stand behind her as she eased the door open and peered into the hallway and stepped out 

“Absolutely but do you need to be quite so Xena all the time?”

Cordelia glanced back and then reached down and took his hand in hers to keep him close as they moved cautiously to the next flight of stairs

“Ok Gabrielle follow me and I promise I’ll try to remember to whistle while I work.” Lindsey grinned again and wisely kept his mouth shut as he enjoyed the first gentle touch from another human in a longer than he could remember.


	3. Chapter 3

Author: Karen

Title: Lockdown

Timeline: Directly after Angel fires the Batpack in Season 2.

Disclaimer: Sadly not mine but willing to submit a reasonable offer for the use of Lindsey and the boys at the Hypernion.

Feedback: Much appreciated as it’s my first fic to be submitted for general consumption and I’m nervous!

Dedication: To Chrissy for being so nice and helping out a complete stranger and to Sunny(?) for her encouraging comments and giving me my first ever feedback.

Rating: Have no idea as I am new to this but around a film 12/15 at the mo and progressing to an 18 later. (God and Cordy and Lindsey willing)

Archive: If you want it all you have to do is ask!

Written in response to a challenge on the fan page to have Lindsey and one of the white hats trapped in Wolfram and Hart for the night.

Chapter 3.

One hour, two vamps and a small demon with teeth as long as its head later and the pair were finding it increasingly difficult to find anything humorous and Cordelia’s one of a kind sweater was now in two distinct pieces. She held the ragged pieces of material in her hands and was torn between relief she’d worn a vest top underneath and misery that yet another item of her wardrobe wasn’t good enough for dusters anymore. Lindsey was torn between sheer blind panic at the sheer numbers of the opposition they faced to get out of the building and pity at the look of sadness on Cordelia’s face. On reflection he was leaning more towards blind panic.

“What are we going to do?”

“Mmm?”

“Cordelia what are we going to do?” 

Cordelia held up the two pieces of the sweater and squinted dubiously 

“Do you think I could get this repaired?” 

She held the sweater to the light 

“I mean it looks like a clean break right?” 

Lindsey’s mouth dropped open and he made a faint clucking noise in the back of his throat. Cordy frowned up at him from where she was seated on the floor.

“Lindsey what’s wrong?” 

He took a deep breath and made an effort to control his temper 

“Cordelia I realise you have a real code ten clothing crisis going on at the moment but you could you please focus on the problem in hand?” 

Cordy manfully struggled to keep a straight face at his choice of words and fixed an expression of bright interest on her face as he continued 

“We need to think of something. I can’t go on like this all night.” 

Cordy waved her hand dismissively one eye back on her ruined sweater 

“Pfft. We’ve got a few minutes grace. The bad guys are down four men and they think they have two Slayers on the loose in the building. Trust me things will be a lot more sedate from now on.” 

Lindsey dragged his hands through his hair in frustration 

“How can you be so sure?”

“Hello? Do pretty much this whole thing every night of my life remember?” 

She finally gave up on the material and shoved it in the bag beside her on the floor 

“I let that cowboy Gorch run for one reason and one reason only, he thinks I’m a Slayer and he thinks Buffy is here with me.” 

She gave a smug grin 

“Once he changed his trousers, figuratively speaking, he would have given the four one one to his demon commando buddies and they would have suddenly become a lot more careful about peeking into dark rooms. If the leader has any sense he’ll have the telepaths focusing on trying to locate any supernatural aura’s that don’t belong to their guys so that takes the pressure of us a little.” 

She came to feet in one lithe movement and casually hooked the bag over her head once again 

“Our priority is finding a safe way out of here and taking out as many of the psychics as we can.” 

She turned and began to inch her way silently down the stairwell they had taken refuge in not bothering to see if Lindsey followed her.

He did but with increasingly bad grace. He was running mainly on adrenalin, fear and anger at the moment and the ease that Cordelia had taken on the role of commander bothered him considerably. He was at least eight years her senior and had a lot more experience of giving orders and planning strategies and, not to put too fine a point on it, she was a girl. A confident and amazingly sexy girl, albeit, but a girl nonetheless. 

Cordy for her part was beginning to wonder if Lindsey had ever seen a demon outside of the controlled and well-protected offices of Wolfram and Hart. When she had taken the head off the vamp that was with Gorch she had not given any thought to his unwillingness to attack but when they had run into their next opponent with the amazingly long teeth he had done everything but scream and wet his expensive pants. Admittedly hacking something’s tooth off and then stabbing it repeatedly with it until it died wasn’t the most pleasant way to spend five minutes out of your life but she expected a little more help than the lawyer watching the corridors to make sure they weren’t caught by surprise. She sneaked a look back over her shoulder and saw his face creased in a dark scowl of concentration and then shook her head in amazement as she recalled the details of the fight that had seen the demise of her favourite green sweater.

‘ _ Cordelia watch out _ !’

_ Cordy turned and saw the demon right before it crashed into her taking her to the floor. She twisted her head to the side to avoid the wildly gnashing teeth and concentrated on putting everything she had into the knee that she brought sharply up between the thing’s legs. She grinned as it gave a pained woof of surprise and crashed sideways leaving her clear to scramble clear and give it a quick kick to the ribs on the way up. _

_ ‘Don’t seem to matter what dimension they come from or how they get made, the ball basher gets ‘em every time!’ _

_ Cordy’s triumphant exclamation put Lindsey’s teeth on edge and he found himself fighting down a crimson tide of rage at the casual way she pushed her hair back. He was about to make a comment when the young girl suddenly dropped like a sack of coal and disappeared under the body of the small stocky demon. He backed away in horror as Cordelia yelled out and then turned to the bag that had fallen on the floor and pulled out the alcohol soaked rags and a lighter. Cordelia’s face when she managed to roll on top of the demon managed to state in no uncertain terms what she thought of that plan and then just in case Lindsey was in any doubt the shrill  _

_ ‘Are you nuts?!’ managed to clear things up nicely. _

_ He stood staring at the at the two rolling on the floor but it was only when Cordelia shrieked again that he really began to see what was going on in front of his face. To his relief she didn’t appear to be injured but her green sweater hung in two separate halves from her shoulders and her face for the first time was flushed with sheer fury. _

_ ‘You son of a bitch!’ _

_ Cordelia stared down at her sweater and then her hands rose in a double fist to smash under the creature’s jaw and into its throat. As its hands rose in a reflex action she sprang to her feet and then jumping into the air brought her knees under her and smashed into the thing’s belly the air left in a rush and it made some interesting wheezing noises. Cordy looked up at Lindsey standing still grasping the useless equipment he had snatched from the bag and rolled her eyes  _

_ ‘Hey Forrest Gump, you wanna throw me that axe?’ _

_ Lindsey started and then when Cordelia gave an impatient huff he carelessly emptied his hands onto the floor and threw her the axe. She caught it by the handle and then swung it at the creature’s head. The demon twisted at the last moment and the axe sheered through one of its teeth sending the piece of discoloured bone ricocheting off from the wall. The demon screamed in agony and in reflex shoved Cordelia away knocking her axe hand as it did so and sending the weapon flying past Lindsey’s head. The high-pitched scream that erupted from the lawyer’s throat had Cordy’s head snapping round and unfortunately left her wide open as the creature flailed in anger and agony. She took a clenched demon fist to the side of her face and crashed into the wall groaning as her headache flooded back. She lay stunned for a few seconds and then began to focus on Lindsey backing away from the demon ineffectually flapping his hands in a shooing motion. Cordy rolled her eyes. _

_ “Jesus Lindsey, it’s a demon not a damn cat.” _

_ Groaning the girl pushed to her feet again and snatched up the first sharp and pointy object that came to hand. The demon’s tooth. Shrugging and at the same time emitting her own patented battle cry of “Eww eww eww!” Cordelia ran at the back of the demon and leaped bringing her arm around sharply to plunge the thing’s tooth into its eye. The creature shrieked and Cordelia cursed as Lindsey tripped over his own feet in his hurry to get away from the carnage and then she managed to get a grip on the now very slippery tooth and yank it from the creature’s eye and plunge it into its neck. The pain crazed screaming cut off immediately to be replaced by a wet bubbling and the thing sank to the floor scrabbling weakly at Cordelia’s grip on its neck. She pushed away neatly as they hit the floor and then without taking her hand from the bloody wound at the demon’s neck rolled it onto its back and knelt on its stomach further constricting its air supply. With a face like stone and eyes cold with purpose she tore the tooth from the bloody wound and hacked down again and again anywhere that gave before the shard of bone.  _

_ When all that was left beneath her was a bloody pile of gore and torn skin she pushed away and climbed unsteadily to her feet. She stood for a moment staring down at the life that she had just taken and then her eyes met Lindsey’s. He flinched away from the blank look she gave him and stared at the blood-drenched woman still clutching the bloody piece of bone in her fist. Cordy slowly opened her hand and let it fall to the floor and without taking her eyes from Lindsey bent to collect her bag and tattered shirt from the floor. She stalked towards him and spun him with one hand and bent to retrieve the axe with the other. _

_ “We have to go.” _

_ She walked ahead of him with a rigid stride that said clearer than any words just how pissed she was and Lindsey for the first time wondered whether he might not be better off taking his chances with Lilah’s team than staying with the teenager with the centrefold body and the eyes of a killer. _

“Where do you think is gonna be a safe place to regroup for a few minutes?”

Lindsey started at the sound of her voice and stared at the back of her head until she glanced back over her shoulder impatiently.

“Lindsey! Pay attention here. Where can we go to chill out for a few minutes while I plan our next move?”

His lip curled at the clipped tone of her voice and his eyes flashed

“I actually get a say in this then? I thought we were just playing a slightly bloodier than usual version of follow-my-leader.”

Cordelia swung round on the stairs 

“Excuse me? What did you just say to me?”

“I said I actually get a say in this then?”

Cordy stared into his eyes and for one glorious moment contemplated smacking him over the head with the handle of the axe and leaving him for the next demon to come along and then with a great deal of effort her better nature surfaced and she took a deep calming breath.

“Lindsey I know you have to be scared and that’s pretty much all you can focus on right now so I’m going to ignore your tone of voice and sucky attitude and cut you some slack. I am saving your life and that doesn’t give me a whole lot of time to focus on the social niceties. I fight every night. I have done since I turned sixteen years old and that has made me in to the person that I am now. Everyday that I wake up I get to be responsible for the greater good.  _ Every day _ . In general the people I save are usually too traumatised and freaked to worry about anything other than that someone is there to save them and tell them what to do so I kinda fall into the habit of taking charge and keeping people alive.”

Her eyes raked over him from head to toe in one scathing glance.

“You would have been dead in under five minutes if I hadn’t picked tonight of all nights to come down here and burgle your ass and I am not going to keep having this conversation with you the whole night long.”

She placed her hands on her hips and planted her feet wide apart.

“ So here’s your choice. You can follow me and live for as long as I can keep you alive or you can walk away now and die pretty much as soon as you run into the next big uglie that comes your way. What’s it gonna be?”

Lindsey unconsciously drew his body up to mimic her own ‘kiss my ass’ stance and stared back at her.

“You think I can’t take care of myself?”

Cordelia’s level look told him all he needed to know.

“I have been watching my own back for the last five years in this company and you think I can’t take care of myself for the next couple of hours?”

Cordelia continued to watch him and say nothing and suddenly the look on her face was too much to take. He clenched his hand into a fist and swung out at her feeling with dark satisfaction the power of the hit as it ploughed into her chin. Cordy made no noise as she went down and Lindsey made the most of the moment to follow her to the floor and straddle her body pinning her wrists to the floor. He had a brief glimpse of bitter chocolate eyes before he remembered how she dealt with the demon that had held her down in a similar way a short while before and then her sharp knee crashed between his legs and pushed his balls so far into his body it felt like they met with his stomach.

Cordy waited until he collapsed against her in a sudden boneless surrender before she pushed at him and rolled neatly to her feet. She rubbed a hand over her face and satisfied there was no lasting damage left Lindsey to his own private agony for a few moments to scout down the corridor. She was back in under a minute and without a word grabbed the stricken lawyer’s collar and with a few sharp kicks had him on his feet and moving after her. She paused before a large dark double door and with a quick scan in both directions for any enemy sightings pushed open the door and threw Lindsey inside and watched him curl to the floor in breathless agony again. She flicked the lock and then spread her legs and placed her hands on her hips

“Get up.”

Lindsey lifted his head and stared through eyes filled with tears at Cordelia. The girl stared back down at him and with a contemptuous shake of her head poked at his shoulder with her foot.

“I said get up.”

Lindsey redoubled his grip on himself and fought to bring his breathing under control. He understood she was talking to him but in his own private world of pain he had no idea of what those words meant. 

Cordy shook her head again and reaching down got a handful of that thick dark hair and yanked until he had no choice but to follow her hand up or have his scalp torn away.

“Get up Lindsey and fight me.”

Lindsey blinked at the furious face inches from his own and weakly shook his head praying for enough air to form some words.

Cordy released him and watched him stumble and sway until he managed to find his balance and remain upright and then she spoke in a low, hard voice.

“C’mon tough guy let’s see what you’ve got.”

Her arm snaked out almost casually and his head snapped back from a stinging slap to the cheek.

“Lindsey we don’t have all night. Once I kick your ass I have to go out and kick all the other bad guy’s asses and I really need to get a jump on that. So can we get the crushing of your male pride underway please?”

Lindsey stared at her in disbelief and shook his head again and then watched as she sighed and spun on one foot in a move the Slayer herself would have been proud of and kicked him in the chest like a mule.

He fell back and the precious amount of air he managed to suck into his lungs was promptly expelled in a big  _ woof. _ Cordelia stalked after him and dragged him up again grunting with effort

“Cm’on Tyson. Put ‘em up,”

Lindsey shook his head as she cuffed him around the ear again

“Cordelia, I don’t want to fight you.”

She snorted and gave him an abrupt shove

“Yeah now I’m  _ winning. _ Cm’on Lindsey you’ve been jonesing for a good ass kicking ever since you found me tonight. I can take five seconds out of my busy schedule holding back an entire army of demons,  _ by myself, _ to teach you a lesson.”

She spun and kicked him again and knocked him back against a desk

“ _ Come on! _ ”

Lindsey lost it. He’d been beaten up, semi-tortured, had demonic assassins all over his ass and Cordelia Chase alternately laughing at him and beating him to a pulp. And she’d  _ ruined _ his carpet. 

He gave a roar like a ruined animal and charged and took a small crumb of satisfaction in the startled look on Cordelia’s face before she crashed down beneath him. He didn’t give her a chance to try any of her tricks this time but ruthlessly pinned her legs together and beneath his and took her slim supple wrists and slammed them to the floor above her head stretching and immobilising her beneath him. Cordelia struggled briefly for a few moments writhing against the hard body above her and then stilled, staring up into the azure blue eyes above her and waited for his next move

“Never,  _ never _ , hit me again Cordelia.”

She felt a chill slither down her spine at the cold command and much to her disgust a spark of something much lower in the pit of her stomach went  _ zing! _ at the feel of his firm fingers clutching her arms and the hard thighs pressing against her.

_ I gotta get laid. The day I get turned on by having a psychopath overpower me and pin me to a grubby office floor is a day closer to turning into Loopscilla _ .

Her eyes focused on him again as he leaned forward and spoke in a voice low with menace into her ear

“You don’t want me as an enemy Cordelia.”

She shivered with reaction as his breath warmed her skin and pulled futilely at his grip

“Lindsey, you’re hurting me.”

She cringed at the breathy sound and turned her head to find his eyes an inch from her own

“And in case it’s escaped your notice we  _ are  _ enemies. Have been since day one. Not a lot going on in the friendship department here.”

Their eyes held as he slowly leaned back still keeping a tight hold on her and settled himself firmly at the apex of her thighs. His face was unreadable as he looked down at her and Cordelia worked to keep her own expression carefully blank as she met his eyes.

“Things are going to change. When I let you up, I’m in charge. We play this my way and when I say jump the only sound I want to hear from you is the bouncing of your feet on the floor as you try to get higher. Is that clear?”

Cordy bit her tongue and nodded sharply and allowed herself a preview of exactly how she was going to dismember him to run behind her eyes. 

There went his hand; there went the real one.  _ Oops I’m sorry Lindsey was that your leg? Here let me get that for you, well goddamn! There goes the other one! _ Lindsey smirked at the expression of naked hostility on her face and ground her wrists into the floor forcing a small groan out of her.

“Don’t think it Cordy. You have me mad but still willing to work with you. I could leave you here all helpless for the big bad to find. Slayer meat remember?”

Cordelia forced her eyes to calm as she stared into his and concentrated on focusing on anything but her current predicament. Wesley and Gunn trying to cook British soul food, Angel singing Manilow, Phantom Dennis and the loofer anything but Lindsey McDonald looming over her and looking as though he could eat her up. 

_ Nice one Cor, there’s an image to keep you up at night. _

She nodded again and hated herself for the small gasp that exploded from her as he suddenly swooped down and went almost nose to nose

“You need to remember I’m a man and not one of your pussy whipped white hats falling over themselves to stay in the Chase good books. You’re playing with the grown ups now little girl and you need to be more careful who you treat like a house broken pet.”

He pushed up and stood over her and then reached down and grasped her wrist pulling her to her feet. She felt the warmth from his body for a brief moment and then he shoved her away to stumble against the wall. She took a moment to steady herself and try to calm her racing heartbeat. 

She had never,  _ never _ , been spoken to or held down like that in her life and was deeply ashamed of the fact that her frantically pumping heart wasn’t entirely due to anger over Lindsey’s treatment of her. God help her she had actually enjoyed someone saying no for once. Her whole life she was used to people dancing to her tune and following her lead, even a two hundred and fifty year old vampire for gods sake, and never in all that time had someone held her and told her no. She shivered as she remembered the cold way he had told her, no  _ ordered  _ her, to show him respect found herself looking at him as he moved around in a whole new way.

The evil lawyer façade slipped away and she saw a man beneath. Strong and virile, flawed yes but with incredible self-possession and confidence that was evident in every line in his hard body. This was not a man to take lightly under any circumstances and she winced as she replayed the events of the evening so far in her mind. She had treated him with less respect than she did the average vamp or demon and suddenly that seemed very wrong. He was a human being, regardless of his moral choices in life, and had stuck with her through all of the night’s events so far even when he had been so scared he had to force himself to move and despite his threat of tying her up and leaving her here she didn’t believe that he would. 

Cordelia opened her mouth and just as she was about to speak there was a tremendous crash against the locked door. They both whirled and stared at the door and then Cordelia moved to pick up her axe from where it lay on the floor and stood braced to face whatever came through. Lindsey watched her for a moment and then satisfied that the door would hold scanned the office they found themselves in for inspiration. Still more than eighteen floors up the window wasn’t an option but unfortunately neither was the door. He stared at the desk and considered its potential for a barricade unwillingly deciding that the aged antique oak would snap like kindling before a concentrated otherworldly attack. He eyes scanned desperately around the office again and then returned to Cordelia as the wood of the door cracked and the light from the corridor began to shine through

“Lindsey they’re coming. Stay behind me.”

Her voice was calm and resigned and betrayed none of the terror that ate like acid at her insides. The hairs on the back of her neck and arms rose as through the cracks in the wood a wet pestilent voice sounded

“Slayer. Slayer coming for you. Going to make you  _ scream _ .”

Cordy shuddered as she heard the demonic delight in the voice and unhappily contemplated the pictures that rose unbidden in her minds of the unfortunate victims of demon attacks she’d seen. They wanted to hurt her every which way and the thought of being meat and passed around to be used as they wanted was not the way she was going out. She took two steps back and prepared to fight as long as she could for Lindsey and then if she lost to be as close to the windows as she could to remove herself from their reach permanently.

From behind her she heard a sharp exclamation from Lindsey and then from the side of her eye saw the wall fall away. She turned her head to look and the door crashed in revealing a mass of bodies all fighting to be the first in and at her. She tensed as they flooded towards her sending out mental goodbyes and messages of love to Wes, Gunn and even Angel and then…

“Cordy duck!”

Years of fighting alongside Buffy and Angel had her dropping to the floor and rolling to one side and she heard a wretched scream as something flew over her head and smashed into the demons before her. Lindsey’s hand came down and pulled her to her feet and pushed her before him into the darkness of a tunnel behind the wall. She whirled as he let her go and then even as she took in the sight of two vamps and a demon spinning in the middle of the office flaming wildly and the others trying desperately to stay out of the way and follow the humans at the same time Lindsey raised his hand and depressed a small button in his hand. She opened her mouth to shout but it was too late. The false wall slammed back into place and they were in the dark and trapped in the tunnel from her vision. 

__

__


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter contains a description of a dead child, but nothing I would consider graphic.

Author: Karen

Title: Lockdown

Timeline: Directly after Angel fires the Batpack in Season 2.

Disclaimer: Sadly not mine but willing to submit a reasonable offer for the use of Lindsey and the boys at the Hypernion.

Feedback: Much appreciated as it’s my first fic to be submitted for general consumption and I’m nervous!

Dedication: To Chrissy for being so nice and helping out a complete stranger and to Sunny(?) for her encouraging comments and giving me my first ever feedback.

Rating: Have no idea as I am new to this but around a film 12/15 at the mo and progressing to an 18 later. (God and Cordy and Lindsey willing)

Archive: If you want it all you have to do is ask!

Written in response to a challenge on the fan page to have Lindsey and one of the white hats trapped in Wolfram and Hart for the night.

  
  


Lockdown Part 4.

  
  


Cordelia jumped as the confined space she found herself in suddenly echoed with the furious pounding of the demons on the other side. She took an involuntary step back and Lindsey yelled into her ear.

“My foot! Jesus watch where you’re standing!”

Cordelia scowled as his voice dipped down towards the floor

“Some seer you are.”

“Suck it up whiny. And for your information that’s  _ seer _ not seeing eye dog!”

She reached out a cautious hand and touched a cool, damp wall and then reached out with the opposite arm and brushed the opposite side of the tunnel with her fingertips. So, trapped in a pitch black confined space with someone she didn’t like and the screaming hordes of the underworld after her blood. She felt sixteen all over again.

“Any idea where we are Mr trap us in the place where we’re most likely to meet our horrible agonising deaths?”

Lindsey frowned at the sarcastic tone of Cordelia’s voice and wished he could see her face as he snapped

“Really, no thanks necessary for saving your life. Please don’t mention it.”

Cordelia rolled her eyes and stretched out her leg to feel around for her bag as she answered

“Way to go Lindsey. We can’t see, we don’t know where we are, we have no idea where to get out and to top it all off we have no idea what’s down here with us. Really I can’t tell you how much I appreciate this.”

Her foot brushed something soft and hoping it was her leather tote and not something that was going to rip her arm off, she bent to retrieve it. She snagged the material and breathed a sigh of relief. Arm and fingers all attached and accounted for. Things were looking up. 

They both jumped as the demons renewed their efforts to get in by hammering at the false wall with what sounded like a battering ram. They spoke at the same time

“We need to get out of here!”

Cordelia shoved her hand into the bag and felt around 

“I can’t find the lighter.”

She heard Lindsey’s clothes rustle and then yelped as a flame appeared an inch away from her nose

“Watch it!”

She stepped backwards and closed her eyes wincing at the pain caused by the unexpected flash. She slowly opened her eyes and saw Lindsey’s face seemingly bobbing in mid air as he held the lighter before him

“Ok we need to move now.”

They both turned towards the door as another particularly loud crash sounded, Lindsey peered around him raising the lighter as he did so and then made a triumphant sound. He reached over Cordelia’s shoulder and flicked a switch and suddenly they were bathed in soft golden light. He let the lighter go out and then glanced around. They stood in a tunnel with a very low ceiling and a dirt floor not more than two metres wide. A row of tubed lighting stretched away around the corner following the tunnel’s path and the reflections glinted from the slightly damp walls. He glanced back to Cordelia and took in her apprehensive expression and felt fairly sure it mirrored his own. He shrugged

“Well we still have pulses and a heartbeat that’s gotta be a plus right?”

Cordy shrugged 

“Normally I’d agree but this all looks very familiar. I think I saw this in my vision and I’m definitely sure that we’re not on our own down here.”

She gestured to the floor and Lindsey looked down and saw what was unmistakeably some kind of animal droppings. He saw with dismay not only were they large but also very fresh.

“Shit!”

Cordy grinned

“My point exactly.”

She glanced back as the rhythmic pounding began to pick up

“Well whatever, we can’t stay here.”

Lindsey nodded in agreement and moved in front of Cordelia

“I’ll go first, follow me.”

Cordelia obediently fell in behind him grinning at the authority in the tone. If he wanted to be first choice out of a fresh delivery of human meat so much the better. She planned to stay well back and concentrate on looking as gristly and flavourless as possible. 

They reached the curve of the tunnel and realised that the light would get much dimmer as they went on thanks to the lighting paring down to one solitary strip of tubing that flickered uncertainly. Lindsey felt Cordelia take a deep breath behind him and without thinking reached back to squeeze her hand to reassure her. Much to his amazement his fingers were grasped in her slightly calloused hand and he smiled as she held on as he set out into the gloom. His grin widened as she whispered

“Don’t for one minute think I like you Lindsey. I just don’t wanna take a fall and ruin my three thousand dollar dental work.”

The sounds of the demons trying to follow them faded behind them as they progressed down the tunnel but slowly their eyes began to water as the most incredible stench rose around them.

“Christ, what the hell is that?”

Lindsey moaned through his fingers fighting the urge to follow Cordelia’s earlier example and hurl all over the floor. Her voice came from behind him betraying no emotion

“Dead bodies. Lots of ‘em and a long time a rottin’ judging from the smell.”

Lindsey paused in mid step and glanced back at his unwilling companion in this nightmare

“What?”

Cordelia stared into his frightened eyes grimly

“Dead rotting corpses. Probably human. Killed fairly recently judging from the smell.”

“What you can tell how long something’s been dead from the smell now?”

Cordelia eyed him in condescendingly 

“No but if they’d have been down here years they wouldn’t still be smelling. They’d be bones and dust and all we’d have to worry about is how long it had been since somebody vacuumed. Duh!”

Lindsey opened his mouth and then closed it when no suitable rejoinder came to him. Cordelia looked away from him down the tunnel and he felt a tide of shame flood over him again. Whilst obviously concerned with not being eaten Cordelia was also deeply distressed at the fate of the beings whose remains were now choking them with noxious gases. 

Lindsey felt minor, very minor, curiosity as to who they were but his first thought definitely hadn’t been  _ poor souls may they rest in peace. _ Maybe a brief thought as to what they’d done to deserve their fates but that was it.

He grasped her hand more firmly in his and set off again breathing through his mouth and trying to stay away from the thought that the smell was clinging onto his clothes and seeping into his pores. 

They rounded another corner and the tunnel suddenly widened out and became a small round cavern. The source of the smell was evident as dismembered and  _ very _ dead bodies littered the gore-drenched floor atop older remains and bones that looked like they could have been there for decades.

Lindsey felt cold drops of sweat spring out on his forehead as he stared around helplessly and he pressed a hand to his stomach trying to suppress the heaving of the contents. He had never seen anything like it not even in the cellar when he woke to the special contracts division spread out like meat at market and suddenly the reality of the world he dealt in daily came crashing home to him. He turned from Cordelia and helplessly threw up wave after wave of vomit wishing he could purge himself of his past so easily.

Cordelia watched the young lawyer throw up in the corner and then turned back to the horror before her. She felt nauseous but numb as though this was the horror that finally broke her. She walked slowly out among the dead staring down at them determined to bear witness to their passing. Here a young man ripped in two, there a middle-aged woman her face forever frozen in horror and the back of her head bitten clean off. 

Cordy paused in the middle and slowly spun in a circle fixing the images in her mind forever and vowing silently to avenge their deaths if she could. She froze suddenly and her mind screamed as she tried to assimilate what her eyes told her. There on the ground was a tiny pink foot no bigger than her palm with the tattered remains of a blue romper suit hanging around it. Cordelia traced an unwilling path up the infant’s leg and it’s body until finally she saw the head of a young baby pillowed on an equally dead breast. She took a deep breath and then another and slowly bent to lay a hand on the side of the child’s face. The skin was cold and rubbery under her touch and was colouring into the deep purple of decomposition but she could still see the sweet curve of the lip and cheeks and the delicate bones in the chin. It didn’t appear to be injured but then she saw the savage marks on it’s chest half hidden by the body it lay on and then she knew that it had been eaten whilst alive and then tossed away like so much trash when it’s attacker had found something more nourishing.

She straightened and turned her head towards Lindsey who leant weakly against the wall wiping a shaking hand across his mouth and staring in horror at the innocent child on the floor. His eyes came up to meet Cordelia’s and he flinched at the bitter fury and purpose he saw there

“ We don’t leave here until this thing is dead. You get to be bait.”

  
  


Across town Gunn was staring in bemusement at Wesley as he paced the small area of their office floor and ranted

“I ask you! Was it too much to hope the girl could obey one simple instruction and stay put? That’s all I asked of her. Who’s meant to be in charge here?”

Gunn wisely refrained from answering any of Wes’ questions and instead posed one of his own

“Wes man, what’s the big? It’s not like we’ve got a note saying give us some cash and we’ll give you the girl.”

Wesley snorted and snatched the thin piece of paper Cordelia had left them and read in a high voice

“Guys, had a thought and went to follow it up. Check in later.”

He flung the piece of paper down on the desk in disgust

“Unless the local boutiques now routinely open at three in the morning the only thought that girl’s had is involving the Angel situation. God alone knows where she’s gone and who she’s mixed up with.”

He flung himself into a chair and put his head in his hands

“She’s not answering her pager or cell and we have absolutely no idea where to start looking for her. Honestly this is beyond the pale.”

Gunn perched his long frame on the corner of the desk and frowned down at the top of his friend’s head. He hated to admit it but his own sense of disquiet at Cordelia’s absence had grown in the face of Wesley’s certainty of bad things afoot and he now had images flashing in his head of Cordelia’s drained and lifeless corpse lying in a darkened street somewhere. Her image kept fading to be overlaid by the face of his dead sister and he shook it off with difficulty. Not this time. This time he was going to make damn sure he did whatever it took to get his girl. He reached down to clap a reassuring hand to Wesley’s shoulder

“Cm’on I got an idea.”

  
  
  
  


Back in the depths of Wolfram and Hart Lindsey was trying without success to reassert his briefly held authority over Cordelia and for the first time found himself empathising with Angel.

“Cordelia I’m telling you we’re moving now! No questions, no arguments. Now move.”

Cordy stared at him calmly and idly swung her axe in one hand and then without taking her eyes from Lindsey smashed it twice into the wall sending echoes crashing down the tunnel.

Lindsey sprang forward to snatch the axe from her hand but it was too late. Deep within the gloom they heard a roar. A bloodcurdling, terrifying and above all  _ hungry  _ roar. 

“Christ!”

He froze inches from Cordelia’s cold set face and stared into eyes that were black with hard purpose

“What have you done?”

The terrified whisper hissed from his lips and he began to shake as from deep within the tunnels the sound came of something moving fast towards them. Cordelia raised an eyebrow and stared into the terrified blue eyes above her

“What I have to.”

She shoved at him suddenly and he fell back onto the remains on the floor in clear view of whatever came through the opening. Lindsey cried out again in disgust and fear as he tried to find firm purchase on a floor soaked in the remains and gore of countless victims. Cordelia reached up with one hand and drew her knife from the sheath on her back and then took a firm grip on the axe with her other hand. She moved to one side of the tunnel opening so that she would be hidden from view for a few crucial seconds and Lindsey saw her in the dim light for what she really was. A slim figure still covered in the blood and dust of her slayings earlier in the evening body held with confidence and relaxed before battle eyes calm and deadly with the knowledge she was soon to kill again. A warrior and a champion; someone who would give her life without hesitation for the cause of light. He scrambled to his feet his eyes on her and his mouth opening to beg, plead, scream; anything before it was too late. Then suddenly it was. He saw a massive, dark figure move impossibly fast towards him through the tunnel mouth and then it smashed into him sending him to the floor with a painful bang and then he was fighting and screaming for just one more breath.

  
  
  
  


“Run, run, run, run, runaway,

My run,run,run,run,runawaaay!”

Lorne winced as Gunn and Wesley joined their voices together in what they clearly believed was harmony and then before the closing bars of the song had chance to die away they were before him and glaring

“Where is she?”

He stared between the two faces so different and yet so similar united as they were in common purpose. Their bodies radiated tension and muscles were clenched under the skin with fear and anger.

“Now, now kiddies lets not ruin the little seer’s party. She’s safe, for now, and on a solo flight for the PTB.”

His eyes widened as Wesley’s arm shot out and gripped his throat

“I don’t give a damn about the Powers. Where. Is. Cordelia.”

Lorne’s eyes cut to Gunn in the hope of some aid in controlling his obviously deranged friend but the tall black man merely glared back and pointedly flexed his own muscles. Wesley shook the Host by the throat to draw his attention back from Gunn and smiled grimly as the tall green demon said

“Wes, come on. You know there’s no violence in Caritas.”

“Lorne there’s no  _ demon  _ violence allowed in Caritas.”

He allowed his cold smile to widen

“I’m human.”

Lorne quickly weighed up his fast diminishing options and made a choice

“She’s with that little lawyer boy you all dislike so much. Fightin’ the fight and all.”

Wesley frowned in confusion and then Lorne yelped as his fingers clenched and the knuckles turned white in fury

“Lindsey McDonald has her? You tell me she’s safe and then that Lindsey bloody McDonald has her? Where?”

Lorne scrabbled at the fingers on his throat and Gunn stepped forward with a sigh to pull his friend off the green man

“Wes, chill. He can’t tell us nothin’ if you rip his throat out.”

Wesley loosened his hold and then with a disgusted sigh shoved the Host away from him. Gunn stepped in front of his friend and co-worker and allowed a grim smile to grace his own face

“He can however tell us what we need to know if we just cut bits off.”

He unconsciously mimicked Cordelia’s threat from earlier in the evening as he drew the twin of the knife he had given her

“Spill or I get chop happy real quick.”

He stared into worried red eyes and waited. 


	5. Chapter 5

Lockdown Part 5.

Author: Karen

Rating: Erm. . . not sure of the net version but definitely at least a twelve/fifteen in the cinema.

Feedback: God yes! A little help here people.

Disclaimer: Not mine and sadly never will be.

Synopsis: Lindsey’s actually starting to feel sorry for Angel, Cordelia’s showing just what skills you absorb after eighteen years on a hellmouth and Wes and Gunn are losing the plot. All in all another fun night in the city of Angel.

  
  


Cordelia watched as Lindsey disappeared beneath the body of the creature and just for a second froze as she experienced intense déjà vu and then she was in motion. Lindsey was twisting frantically beneath the creature a breath away from having his face bitten clean off when Cordelia’s arm flashed in front of him and with one sure stroke slashed the creature’s throat. He choked as thick rank smelling blood gushed from the wound and over his face dripping into his mouth and filling his nostrils and then he pushed with terrified strength at the body above him and he was suddenly and blissfully free. He scrambled to the side and with the speed born of desperation and sheer terror regained his feet. Cordelia moved as soon as he was clear and delivered a solid kick to the furry side of the thing howling with pain and fury on the floor knocking it onto it’s back. Without pausing she followed through and brought her axe down squarely onto the creature’s face slamming into one eye and causing another high-pitched scream of agony to erupt. Blood still sprayed from the thing’s ruined throat although not as quickly and she ignored the red fluid as it soaked her already blood drenched clothes and tugged the axe free to deliver another merciless blow to the side of the head.

Lindsey raced for the bag that had been left unheeded on the floor and grabbing it upended its contents on the floor to find the short bladed sword that Cordelia had thrown at him earlier. He grasped the handle and spun back to see Cordelia take a wild blow to the face as the creature swung out in blind panicked fury. The girl’s feet left the ground and she flew through the air to slam into the unforgiving stone wall. Lindsey winced as her head cracked back against the stone and then blinked in disbelief as her eyes went blank and then shut as she lost consciousness. 

_ Typical, she goes all Warrior Princess and White Lighter on me and then one little bump to the head and it’s up to me to clean up her mess! _

He swallowed as the thing before him lost it’s footing in it’s wild pain filled rampage and then yelled aloud as he ran forward to hack with his sword. He managed two good hits with the sword before his legs went from under him and he fell with a loud bang to the floor. The creature was on him in an instant slashing with long razor sharp claws blindly lost in a world of pain and fury. Lindsey shouted mindlessly as he slashed back at the creature with his short sword writhing and twisting beneath it in a parody of the sexual act. Blood and fur flew and then Lindsey screamed in agony as one of the talons ripped down his chest opening a deep red gash. For one awful minute he thought the creature had ripped out his heart the pain was so awful and then everything took on a crystal clarity and he felt like time had slowed enough to anticipate the next downward slash of the lethal claws and avoid them to rear up and plunge the sword with all his strength into the broad furry chest before him. Everything froze and he stared in to the distorted face before him and met the gaze of the one remaining eye. He smelt the fur and the blood and the musky scent of the wild and then Cordelia rose up over behind one hairy shoulder and swung in a clean arc to connect with the side of the animal’s head again and it fell backwards with the momentum of the blow onto Lindsey’s legs.

Lindsey allowed his head to sink back as he gasped for breath and Cordelia stumbled as she reached down to take hold of his arm and fell on her knees beside him. She pulled on Lindsey’s arm as he scrambled out from underneath the creature and then they both pulled themselves along the floor until they leaned in exhaustion against the wall. There was a silence of a few minutes only disturbed by their harsh breaths and then Lindsey turned his head to stare at Cordelia inches away from him

“If you ever pull a stupid stunt like that again I’ll kill you myself.”

Cordy turned her head and met the white hot fury of his gaze head on

“Eviler things than you have tried and failed Screamy. Bring it on.”

Lindsey swallowed and spat furiously

“You made me bait! I could have been killed.”

Cordelia’s unconcerned raised eyebrow eloquently stated just how bothered she was by  _ that _ notion. Lindsey growled and tried to find the words to show her just how pissed he was but the articulation he was so famous for in the courtroom deserted him and he was only able to say petulantly

“You sacrificed me to a demon.”

“No I didn’t.”

He spluttered at the cool denial that came from her lips and the bored way her eyes drifted from him to the latest cooling body on the floor

“Excuse me I think I know when someone has just tossed me to a demon like a piece of steak.”

Cordy pulled herself up straighter and winced as her shoulder and back muscles moaned in protest

“I didn’t sacrifice you to a demon. That’s a werewolf.”

“What?”

Lindsey blinked in confusion at the matter of fact tone of voice 

“That’s a werewolf not a demon. I sacrificed you to a shape shifter.”

His mouth fell open incredulously as he watched her slowly pull herself up the wall wincing the whole way up and then with a burst of outraged anger he shot to his feet beside her and slammed her back against the wall

“A fucking werewolf! I’m meant to shrug off the whole tossed out like a piece of meat thing because it’s a fucking  _ werewolf _ ?”  __

Cordelia frowned in mild annoyance at the man screaming in front of her and allowed her eyes to drift over his shoulder to rest on the bodies behind him and in particular the tiny form of the baby lying on the floor.

“Lindsey let go. You’re alive aren’t you? Quit whining.”

Lindsey actually thought his head was going to explode such was the pressure he felt as his blood pounded into his brain. He opened and shut his mouth soundlessly and tried to remember how to speak English so he could scream just how much he hated her and how much he was going to enjoy all the new and inventive tortures he was going to create just for her. Cordelia flicked another glance up at him and then her eyes rested once again on the body behind him. Then they widened and she paled and Lindsey spun around to see the wolf’s body slowly fade and the form of a middle-aged man appear. They both jumped as he gave a soft moan and then Cordelia pushed past Lindsey and ran to sink down beside the man’s ruined head.

“It’s ok. Lie still. I’m here.”

Lindsey stared in bewilderment as she drew a gentle hand over the man’s filthy, thinning hair and softly laid her hand on his shoulder.

“What are you  _ doing _ ? Cordelia get away from him!”

Cordy frowned at the harsh whispered order and turned her head to say coolly

“Lindsey find something to put over him. He’s cold and in shock.” 

Lindsey’s mouth fell open once more and he stared in bug-eyed amazement at the blood-drenched girl on the floor. She’d brutally and cold bloodedly slain the vicious monster that had killed so many and tried to eat  _ him _ but the minute it morphed into a more acceptable shape she turned into Florence freakin’ Nightingale!

Cordelia frowned in annoyance as Lindsey firmly crossed his arms and leaned back against the wall stubbornly daring her to challenge him. She took her hand from the man’s shoulder and made to rise but another agonized moan stopped her and she stared down into the blood-drenched face

“Please…don’t leave.”

She barely caught the pained words and leant in closely to catch the next agonised whisper

“Sorry. So sorry. Finish it.”

She rocked back on her heels and blinked down at the human before her and shook her head emphatically

“No. We’re going to get you out of here and then get you some help. You’ll be fine.”

The man before her somehow managed to raise one mangled arm and find her hand and squeezed it weakly

“Please. Might heal. Can’t…”

His voice gave out and he fought for breath his one remaining eye never leaving her face. Cordelia began to cry agonized tears slipping slowly down her face. She sniffled as she slowly nodded and turned to face Lindsey again.

“Give me the axe.”

He swallowed at the agony in her eyes and bent to retrieve the weapon from the floor and moved to stand behind her. He tentatively reached out and placed his false hand on her shoulder

“I’ll do it.”

Cordelia turned her head and glared up at him eyes still leaking tears

“Your damn company has done enough. Give me the goddamn axe and  _ back off _ .”

His hand fell from her as she snatched the axe from him and he backed away heart clenching at the furious expression on her face. Cordelia watched him until he had resumed his place at the wall and then with a visible effort shook the hatred off her face and turned with a calm face to the man she was about to execute.

“Do you want me to contact anyone for you to tell them…”

Her voice broke and she swallowed frantically to clear the huge blockage in her throat. The man on the floor moved his head fractionally in a negative shake and squeezed her hand again

“No… sorry. Has to end.”

Cordelia nodded and her back straightened as she prepared herself

“It will I promise you. I will bring them down and I will make them pay.”

She freed her hand from his loose grasp and gently laid it onto his chest

“Close your eyes and think of home.” 

She gave one final caress to the side of his face and sat back on her heels bringing the axe in front of her to grip firmly in both hands

“Close your eyes and think of home and know that I send you there with love.”

The man looked at her one final time and whispered

“Thank…you.”

He closed his eyes and Cordelia reared onto her knees bringing the axe over her head and then downwards in a powerful arc that cut through the exposed throat before her and rang on the floor beneath it as she severed the head from the body. She remained frozen for a moment and then slowly her body began to fall until she lay across the slain man’s chest and the only sound in the small chamber was the sound of her pitiful sobs.

  
  
  


Lorne sat back and eyed the two men before him as he finished telling them all he knew. He jumped as Wesley pounded the table with a clenched fist and snarled

“I’m going to kill her.”

Well that was good. Killing Princess Seer wasn’t what the Powers had in mind, Lorne thought but on a scale of one to ten it scored a twelve as opposed to killing the demon musical genius.

Gunn mirrored Lorne’s movement and leaned in his chair crossing his hard smooth arms and replied flatly

“Get in line.” 

Wesley’s eyes bored into the Host’s 

“You’re absolutely sure that she went to Wolfram and Hart of her own accord? She wasn’t forced in any way?”

Lorne licked his lips and nodded nervously

“Yep. Your little bird flew there under her own power all right. She’s caught up in something that’s beyond her control now and she might be having some problems leaving the coop.”

“And Lindsey McDonald is there with her?”

Lorne winced as Wesley’s voice rang with savagery

“Yes but I told you he’s in as much danger as she is. More maybe. That little girlie sure is full of the old fightin’ spirit.”

Gunn snorted and gripped the edge of the table and Lorne tried not to picture just how much damage could be done to the renegade seer with those big strong hands

“She better have a never ending supply of it I know that much. When I catch hold of her…”

His voice trailed off and he stared into space. Lorne flinched as pictures reached him of exactly how much punishment Cordy could expect when her two outraged friends caught up with her

“Guys please. Still connected here.”

Gunn pushed back form the table suddenly and stood looking down at Wesley

“Let’s go we’re wasting time.”

The Englishman stood and nodded to the green skinned demon

“Thanks for the information.”

They turned and left the club ignoring Lorne’s ironic yell behind them

“Really don’t mention it. Feel free to stop by and threaten me anytime. Here to help.”

He sat back in his chair and glared as they disappeared up the steps to the outside world and waved a hand for the barman

“Elian honey. Seabreeze. Extra breezy.”

  
  
  


Lindsey approached Cordelia cautiously. She had finally quietened down and still lay across the man’s body amongst his many victims. He cleared his throat and when that failed to get no response said quietly

“Cordelia? Cordelia you have to get up. We need to keep moving.”

He thought at first she was too lost in her guilt and misery to hear him but she slowly pulled back from the body and raised her face to his. He sucked in a breath as he saw that she was almost completely covered in the dead man’s blood with lighter traces of pink streaking across her face from her tears

“Why?”

He stared at her for a moment in confusion and then said

“Because we don’t know what else is down here and the demons up there are going to find a way in pretty soon. We have to keep ahead of them.”

Cordelia shrugged and allowed her gaze to roam around the chamber taking in the ruined lives and destroyed bodies 

“What’s the point? They’re gonna catch us anyway. May as well be here.”

Lindsey frowned and his mind raced as he realised she was quite possibly in shock and on the verge of snapping after what she had been forced to do

“Cordelia get up!”

His voice was firm and brooked no defiance but the girl on the floor just stared blankly up at him and then turned away to stare at the decapitated body beside her once more

“Cordelia I’m warning you. I’ll drag you out of here by your hair if I have too but we are leaving now!”

He reached down to grab her arm and she wrenched it away hissing

“Don’t touch me! Just leave me alone!”

He straightened and threw his hands in the air in frustration

“What is your deal? We won, get over it. Now we have to keep winning and we can’t do that with you sitting there like some kicked puppy because you had to put a savage animal down.”

Cordelia stared at him with her mouth hanging open as he shouted and her eyes flashed and then all the strength seemed to leave her body and she sagged once again

“He wasn’t an animal he was a human being and I killed him.”

The words were spoken so softly Lindsey almost didn’t hear them and then he sank down beside her and laid his false hand gently on her arm. He thought for a moment she was going to shrug him off again when the arm tensed and shivered under his touch but slowly her eyes drifted up to lock onto his. He swallowed at the pain and desperation he saw there and said gently

“Cordelia you did what you had to do. He wanted to die and the pain to end. He begged you to help him and you did. That’s what you do right? Help the helpless. You killed him to set him free.”

Her eyes filled with fresh tears at the calm words and she swallowed to clear her throat 

“I went through high school with a werewolf. He never knew what he had done when he was wild. He had no memory and no control over what he did. We used to lock him in a cage in our library for three nights a month and for those three nights it was like Oz never existed. He used to turn and we’d lose our friend but then every morning the sun would come up and he’d come back. He was as human as I am” 

The tears spilled down her face and she began to shake

“I killed an innocent. I slaughtered him because it was the easy option. This could have been Oz and I killed him!”

Her voice rose in horror and Lindsey reacted without thinking and pulled her into his embrace. It was a measure of how shaken Cordelia was that she didn’t tense or fight him but collapsed against his chest and sobbed into his shirt. Her arms crept around him and she clutched him to her as sobs shook her body and Lindsey fought back his own surprise at the instinctual comfort he had offered and gathered her closer. He patted her back with his fake hand and then tentatively began to stroke her hair with the other. When she made no objection he relaxed his hold for a moment and scooped her onto his lap like a child and settled against his body resuming the stroking of her hair and rocking her gently backwards and forwards. Cordelia burrowed into his warmth and held on as the sobs strengthened and threatened to shake her apart.

  
  
  
  
  



	6. Chapter 6

Author: Karen

Rating: Erm. . . not sure of the net version but definitely at least a twelve/fifteen in the cinema.

Feedback: God yes! A little help here people.

Disclaimer: Not mine and sadly never will be.

Synopsis: Lindsey’s actually starting to feel sorry for Angel, Cordelia’s showing just what skills you absorb after eighteen years on a hellmouth and Wes and Gunn are losing the plot. All in all another fun night in the city of Angel.

Dedication: Jen, the hardest working and most detailed beta in the world ever! (and yes I know the grammars not right!) Ina, Mel and Angel S. for the feedback.

  
  


Lockdown Part 6.

  
  


Wesley and Gunn sat side-by-side in Gunn’s truck and stared up at the offices of Wolfram and Hart. Wesley frowned and reached behind the seats and pulled out a large black carryall.

“As we don’t know what’s in there, I think we should just take the most versatile and transportable weaponry. Stakes, a short handled axe or sword each and some holy water.”

He paused for a moment and then pulled out two short black objects

“What are these?”

Gunn glanced down

“Tazers. Flick the switch and jab ‘em in anywhere and you get a serious advantage over the guy twitching on the floor.”

Wesley raised his eyebrows and cautiously handed one over to his friend

“Good lord. Are they legal?”

Gunn gave a mirthless grin

“Are the swords?”

The Englishman cleared his throat and hoped it was dark enough to hide his blush

“Fair point. Do you have your crucifix?”

Gunn touched his chest under his vest 

“Never leave home without it.”

“Then we’re ready. We have about three and a half hours until the sun rises and the everyday world awakens.”

Gunn flicked an amused look over his shoulder as he jumped down from the van

“Got it, Shakespeare. Any thoughts on getting in there?”

Wesley joined his friend at the front of the truck and rested his axe on his shoulder as he contemplated the glass tower before him

“Actually I do.”

  
  
  
  


Cordelia swiped her hand across her face and grimaced at the blood and general ick that came away. She raised her head from Lindsey’s shoulder and took a deep shuddering breath

“Sorry.”

Lindsey braced her as she climbed shakily to her feet and then followed her up, watching her carefully

“It’s ok.”

Cordelia spared one last glance at the man on the floor and then looked around for her weapons bag. She spotted it over by the wall and retrieved it slinging it over her torso. When she finally met Lindsey’s eyes, he was amazed to see her chocolate ones were awash with embarrassment and shame

“Lindsey when this is over and we get out of here could we do each other a favour and never mention this night again? And I mean  _ ever _ .”

The lawyer nodded in heartfelt agreement

“Really not an issue, believe me. The sooner I get out of here and forget this nightmare ever happened the better.”

Cordelia gave a wan smile and gestured to the tunnel the werewolf had run from

“Well, we’d better get moving.”

She lifted the bottom of her t-shirt and took a sniff, wincing as the smells of various body fluids mugged her nasal senses

“We also need to find someway of cleaning up and toning the smell of blood and carnage down or when we do get out of here and into the offices we may as well just hand ourselves over to the nearest bad guy.”

Lindsey glanced down at his three hundred dollar shirt and nine hundred dollar pants and winced at the brown crust that was forming over them from the werewolf’s blood.

“Good point.”

He crossed the floor carefully and followed Cordelia from the room. As he stepped into the tunnel he glanced back one more time. He shuddered briefly and then making sure Cordelia wasn’t either watching him or was near enough to hear him, performed an action that he had stopped at the age of thirteen. He touched his forehead, sternum, and both sides of his chest in a lightening fast genuflection and whispered

“Rest in Peace.”

  
  


Gunn shook his head and ducked under the swing of the vampire before him and, with a casual jab, staked the snarling demon and strode without pausing through the subsequent explosion of ash. When Wesley said he had a plan he had expected…well, an actual  _ plan  _ for a kick off. Instead he had watched in astonishment as the Englishman had strode up to the side access door to the building and proceeded to smash the glass from it and then climb through the jagged hole. He had followed, aware his jaw was flapping in the breeze and making him look like a slightly hipper version of Forrest Gump, and then had groaned as Wesley stood in the middle of the lobby and yelled at the top of his voice

“Hello? Is anyone there? Hello?” 

“Wes! What the hell are you doing?”

Wesley waved a hand impatiently behind him for silence and then shouted again

“Hello? Anyone?”

He beamed as two scowling Latino vampires emerged from behind the security desk apparently still dressed in the gang colours they had died in

“Ah good. Hello, I wonder if you could help me? I’m looking for a girl about so high and with hair down to here.”

He gave a small good-natured chuckle

“Although it has been some hours since I last saw her and she has been changing it rather a lot of late so it could be somewhat shorter now.”

The two vampires exchanged confused looks and then turned back to the Englishman with identical snarls. Wesley remained unperturbed and raised an eyebrow 

“Gentlemen I assure you that you do not want to tangle with us. We’ve come for the girl and once we have her we’ll leave you in peace. Now where is she?”

His voice hardened perceptively at the end of the short speech and he glared at the two before him in impatience. The vampires’ eyes slipped from Wesley to the still shocked Gunn behind him and then obviously reached the conclusion simultaneously that the two humans posed a negligible threat against the prospect of an easy kill and a quick snack and struck. Gunn heard Wesley give an impatient huff of breath before he moved to one side and slammed his stake home through one of the demons back. Gunn himself leaned back from the creature leaping for his throat and side stepped to turn and face his opponent as the demon spun round and shot out a fist. The young man ducked and pivoted again and then when the vamp threw another punch, slipped his stake up and punctured the creature’s heart. Ash swirled around him as he marched towards Wesley with a murderous look in his eyes

“Have you lost your mind? What the hell are you doin’?”

Wesley brushed some stray remains of vampire from the rather nice shirt Vanessa had bought him and answered calmly

“Getting us closer to Cordelia.”

“By announcing to every demon here that we’ve arrived to get her? And I thought walking real quick was a bad plan. _Jesus_ , Wesley!”

Wesley shrugged and glanced around the spacious and expensively furnished lobby

“We got in, did we not? Now all we have to do is find her.”

Gunn eyed his friend with amazement and not a little trepidation

“And how are you plannin’ on doin’ that, exactly? Yelling very loudly on every floor until she answers?”

Wesley grinned and headed for the stairs 

“Something like that, yes.”

  
  
  


Cordelia stamped along the dark tunnel and tried very hard not to think about what she was treading in as she went. She was still squirming with shame inside about falling apart so comprehensively on Lindsey and cursing all the gods she knew of, and some she had met, for the absolutely unforgivable faux pas in allowing her come to Wolfram and Hart that night.

_ I mean, what did I think I was gonna do? Find some kind of lucky charm to erase all memories of Darla from Angst Boy’s head? Please. The one night I pick to go all Batgirl and the legions of hell have a one night only Jones for McDonald’s ass. What are the odds?  _

She scowled deeper and stamped down particularly hard with her next step, only to curse when she felt something cold and wet splash up her already ruined pants leg. She was  _ so _ gonna kick someone’s ass for this.

Lindsey followed her silently wrapped in his own thoughts. When he had joined Wolfram and Hart he knew he would be dealing with things slightly out of the ordinary but never in his wildest nightmares did he think five years down the line he would be running around his own offices in the dead of night with one of his worst enemies dodging demon death squads. He shuddered as he remembered the people back in that chamber and the horror on their faces. 

How could he not know that was happening right under his nose? He thought of the ideals he had started out with and the choices he had made along the way that had slowly corrupted them and tried to see where he had turned into a person that let terrible things happen to innocent people in the name of power. His eyes rested on Cordelia’s back for a moment and he remembered her anguish as she had slaughtered the werewolf and before he realised what he was doing it he spoke in a low voice

“How do you do this?”

Cordelia glanced back over her shoulder and grimaced as she felt her boot fill up with something cold and slimy when she placed her foot without watching the floor

“What?”

Lindsey squirmed at the revolted look she gave him

“How do you do this night after night without going mad?”

Cordelia stopped walking and turned and faced him in the dim light squinting to see his face clearly and said simply

“Who else is going to?”

Lindsey frowned and gestured vaguely 

“You could have anything. You’re young, beautiful and talented, you could have what ever you wanted and you’ve chosen to run around with a vampire and kill things that most people don’t even believe really exist. Why?”

Cordelia shrugged 

“It’s a job. It’s got good hours and I’m pretty much my own boss.”

Lindsey slammed his hand into the wall in frustration and yelled

“Don’t blow this off like it’s nothing! You could die at any time and you just killed someone who had been slaughtering people for God knows how long and you did it with tears in your eyes and your heart breaking. Don’t make this ordinary.”

Cordelia opened her mouth to reply and then shut it at the confusion and anger on his face. She thought for a few moments and then said slowly

“It is ordinary, for me at least. I’ve grown up doing this and this is all I really know.”

She looked away and then met his eyes again

“That’s a lie. This is all I’ve ever done that mattered a damn. All through school I was Cordelia Chase, Queen Bitch. I got all the guys and I had all the money and power and then someone came along and changed that.” 

Lindsey stayed silent as she smiled and said quietly

“I met a girl out to save the world and that was prepared to die doing it. She had nothing in her sad little life but a mission and a good line in comebacks and then she hooked up with the biggest losers in the high school and they suddenly had a thing, a purpose. They went out night after night and fought evil and kept our town, and the world, that much safer. I got dragged into their little fight once or twice and before I knew it I was there along with them, bitching all the way of course, but I was there. I got to be me for the first time. You have no idea how scary it is to look inside yourself and know there’s so much more than what anyone will let themselves see.”

She laughed lightly

“I stayed when the world was going to end and I stayed when we were a Slayer down and fighting the big bads ourselves. I even stayed when the boy I used as my excuse for helping humiliated me in front of the whole town, because I had a mission. No one ever really saw what we did and what we sacrificed, but  _ I _ knew.” 

Lindsey stared at her as her shoulders went stiff with pride

“You left. You could have gotten out and stayed away and had a normal life.”

Cordelia shrugged 

“Could have done but I didn’t. I came to LA because my parents needed money and I thought it would be easy to make some making movies.”

She laughed

“Well, we all know how well that worked out. Then I see soul boy again and I get another choice. I get to matter and I get to help. I phoned my parents not long after my friend Doyle died and told them what I wanted and they disowned me. Flat out.”

Lindsey blinked 

“You told them about Angel and what you do?”

She shrugged again

“They grew up in Sunnydale, they knew the score. I told them everything and they told me if I continued with what I did not to ever contact them again. They didn’t have a daughter. So I made my choice. Lindsey, what I do isn’t what I want, not really, let’s face who in their right mind would choose  _ this _ ? But it is something that not everyone can do and when you have something special inside you that can deal with what we do then you  _ have  _ to use it.”

Lindsey felt his mouth drop open at her impassioned speech and then he closed it with a snap as she continued seriously

“So, I’ve explained how I do what I do and how I can sleep at night, what’s your deal? How are you gonna sleep tonight knowing that I was here fighting to save your ass from the things you’re normally siccing on other people?”

She let her eyes rove over his face and said seriously

“Have a think about that the next time you’re screamin’ and a wailin’ under the next monster that wants a taste of you. And remember how it feels.”

She turned on her heel and walked off without another word leaving him staring after her. He glanced back down the tunnel as though seeing the bodies again and then turned and followed her silently into the dark.

  
  
  
  


Wesley and Gunn were ten floors up and shamelessly eavesdropping on a loud angry voice through a partially open wooden door.

“What do you mean you can’t find them? How hard can it be to track two girls and a man in a locked building?”

Another voice spoke hesitantly 

“They aren’t just any girls, sir. Slayers aren’t strictly human and if the man is under their protection it will be difficult to find them and take him.”

Wesley’s eyebrows shot up and he mouthed at Gunn

_ Slayers?  _

“They are children drunk on their own power and they’ve been lucky. What do the telepaths say?”

There was a long uneasy pause and then

“They were found downstairs a few moments ago. They’re dead.”

Gunn looked at Wesley, grinning sheepishly. Wesley grinned back at him and pointed to his sword 

_ Whoops! _

“What? All of them?”

“Well, we weren’t sure with one of them but when we tried to move him his head fell off so, yes, I’m afraid so.”

An angry wordless roar came from the room and Gunn shook his head in mock sympathy and then couldn’t help a quick snigger at the unknown man’s fury. There was a short scream that indicated the demise of the unfortunate minion and then the voice came again, this time slightly calmer.

“Listen all of you. I don’t care what you have to do but find me the Slayers and that damn lawyer. Blow that fucking panel off its frame if you have to but get into that area and get me those damn humans.” 

Another voice spoke shaking perceptibly

“Sir, they have help. There are at least two other hostiles here that are aiding them.”

“I don’t care if they have the entire fucking military backing them up! Find them and kill them.”

There was another long pause

“Slowly.” 

The two humans outside the door scrambled back as the voice came closer and just made it to a nearby maintenance closet when the door swung fully open. Wesley didn’t dare push open the door to get a look at their adversary and so instead stood with his friend in the dark listening to the footsteps fade away. He started as Gunn whispered

“Well, at least we know she’s still alive.”

“Yes, but for how long? And Buffy’s here? How can that be?”

Gunn eased the door open and stepped slowly out glancing around to make sure the coast was clear

“Don’t know, don’t care. I’m just happy Cordy’s got someone other than us to back her up and keep her alive.”

Wesley followed his friend down the corridor 

“Well, from the sounds of it she’s not doing too badly on that front herself.”

Gunn stuck his head around a corner and then waved Wesley on saying grimly

“Let’s find her and make sure it stays that way.”


	7. Chapter 7

Author: Karen

Rating: Erm. . . not sure of the net version but definitely at least a twelve/fifteen in the cinema.

Feedback: God yes! A little help here people.

Disclaimer: Not mine and sadly never will be.

Synopsis: Lindsey and Cordelia are trapped in the tunnels beneath Wolfram and Hart fighting, and slaying, all manner of creatures. Gunn and Wesley are hot on their trail and not the least bit happy about it.

Dedication: Jen, the hardest working and most detailed beta in the world ever! (and yes I know the grammars not right!) Ina, Mel and Angel S. for the feedback.

  
  


Part 7.

  
  


“Again with the stench!”

Cordelia placed her hand over her nose and mouth and glared accusingly into the darkness before her, resolutely ignoring the sudden racing of her heart at the thought of what might lay in it. Lindsey copied her actions and closed his eyes, desperately afraid to follow her and find out what was causing the hideous smell.

Cordy renewed her grip on her blood stained axe and with a quick glance back at Lindsey, moved quickly forward to encounter their next foe. When they entered the next chamber they were both momentarily frozen and then Cordelia said

“A spa? They have a  _ spa _ down here?”

She looked at Lindsey in confusion and quipped

“It really is a whole different world for you people, isn’t it?”

Lindsey looking just as confused as the girl beside him glanced around the small, steamy chamber.

_ Rugged, rocky walls, check. Eldritch glow, check. Terrible and offensive smell, check. Vicious, bloodthirsty demon just dying to rip our throats out? Nah, not so much. _

They moved forward slowly and peered over the lip of the small bubbling pool. Sure enough, under the surface there ran a ledge of stone worn smooth by countless generations of Wolfram and Hart asses. They both pulled back and stared at each other again and then Cordelia sniffed and pulled a face as she instantly regretted it

“Just so we’re clear, I am not getting in there with you. Yes, we need to wash the blood off. No, we do  _ not  _ need to bathe in the blood of rotten eggs to do it.”

Lindsey grinned 

“It’s a hot spa. Sulphur water. You’ve never heard of hot springs?”

Cordelia eyed him condescendingly 

“Well, Mr Ivy League, we sure don’t have nothin’ like this back home. We just go on down and play in the stream with Billy Bob an’ the pigs when Ma tells us.”

She rolled her expressive eyes and snapped

“Lindsey, I’m from Sunnydale, not Hazzard County. And until quite recently my parents were very rich. Of course I know what a hot spring is! I’ve visited several, but the fact of the matter is that I am not getting in a bath that will make me smell worse when I get out than when I got in.”

Lindsey nodded and allowed his eyes to roam over her lush figure pointedly

“Pity.”

Cordelia scowled at him 

“You know when I threatened to start cutting bits off you earlier? I could still do that.”

Lindsey grinned widely and held up his hands, backing away in mock fear

“Hey, take it easy. Just joking.”

Cordelia turned away but not before he caught a glimpse of the involuntary smile on her face. She walked slowly around the chamber running her hands over the wall and finally placed her hands on her hips, frowning

“I don’t get it. We’re in the middle of an LA law firm, there’s no way there’s room for a network of creepy ass tunnels and stuff, and yet I‘m still standing in one that looks older than all the vampires I know combined. How?”

Lindsey looked around him and shrugged with disinterest

“Probably someone just found a spell to connect some unused closet space with another dimension and decided to utilise the area.”

Cordelia’s mouth fell open 

“Can you do that?”

Lindsey nodded as he eyed the chamber disparagingly

“Sure. Of course most people tend to pick the sunnier dimensions with willing supplies of chicks and booze but, yeah, of course you can do it.”

Cordelia also looked around her but her gaze was assessing and calculating

_ Ok, so it’s a little ragged, but, hey, fixer upper! And the space! Just think of all the shoes and jackets I could fit in here! _

Lindsey caught the speculative look and grinned. He could almost see the wheels turning in her mind and the floor to ceiling shelves and rails. She was so adorably transparent at times.

_ Whoa! Where’d that come from?  _ Not  _ adorable, she cut off your ear and butchered several other beings. Not in  _ any _ sense of the world is this girl adorable.  _

He abruptly left his train of thought as a loud bang echoed down the corridor behind them. They both covered their faces as a billowing cloud of dust flew in and swirled around them, blinding their eyes and making them choke. Cordelia was the first to recover; her reflex time honed over the years thanks to close proximity to Buffy and then Angel. She waved a hand in front of her face and groaned as the faint echoes of enraged howls and shouts forced their way past the white noise in her ears

“Let’s go. Your buddies have moved past stealth hunting and into the realms of we worship at the King of ‘Stupid and Pointless attacks’ feet.”

Lindsey frowned in confusion at her remark as she grabbed his hand and dragged him past the low pool to the opening in the rock opposite. Cordelia rolled her eyes picking up speed

“Otherwise known as Angel.”

She risked a glance back over her shoulder and flashed him a mocking grin

“Although, look who I’m talking to! You probably got a few worshippers yourself, dontcha?”

Lindsey scowled and picked up his pace to match hers

“Hey! Some of my plans were masterpieces.”

“Sure they were, hon. Which one are we thinking of? The plan to kill me? _Got your_ _hand cut off._ The plan to use Darla and Druscilla to turn Angel? _Got you snacked on_. The plan to capture me tonight and no doubt torture me till I cracked? _Ended up_ _saving your ass._ Yeah, you’re a regular Bonaparte all right.”

Lindsey scowled again and to his deep and eternal shame could think of nothing else to come back with other than a muttered

“Shut up!”

Cordelia sniggered and kept running trying to ignore the shouts that drew closer behind them and the possibility she was leading them into a dead end.

  
  
  


Wesley and Gunn poked their heads into the jagged hole in the wall and looked solemnly at the floor where  _ a lot _ of footprints were smeared into the dust.

“Damn, a lot of things went through here in a hurry!”

Wesley shrugged and gingerly stepped through the gap motioning Gunn to follow him

“Yes, well, we’d better hope that Cordelia is hurrying that little bit quicker. I can’t believe they blew up a wall to get to her.”

Gunn ducked his head, cursing under his breath at the low ceilings, and took a cursory look over his shoulder making sure they weren’t being followed before following his friend into the gloom

“She’ll be ok. If they’re desperate enough to blow up a damn wall then she must be really pissin’ all over them.”

Wesley coughed as a bit if stray dust found it’s way into his throat 

“Quite. However, if they really have thrown caution so comprehensively to the winds then she is in considerably more danger than before and may find herself in great difficulty before much longer.”

Gunn rolled his eyes 

“You know there’s only so many words to go around, English. Try an’ save some for the rest of us.”

Wesley blushed in the gloom and hung his head slightly before he recognised the tone of affectionate teasing in the other man’s words. He glanced back at his friend and Gunn flashed a bright smile and Wesley felt his own mouth curve in response

“Sorry. When I get worried I forget myself and tend to babble a little.”

Gunn squeezed his shoulder in strong grip

“Chill, English, I’m just kidding.  _ What the hell is that smell _ ?”

Wesley frowned and placed his hand over his nose and attempted to swallow his heart as it jumped into his throat

“Oh dear.”

  
  
  


Cordelia ran as fast as she dared in the dimly lit tunnel and concentrated on regulating her breathing as much as she could. All she could hear was the pounding of their feet and of her own heart as she searched desperately for a bolthole to hide and re-group. The howls behind them were louder now and she knew that they had possibly only a few moments before they were overrun. She gasped as the ground abruptly fell away beneath her feet and then she rolled end over end down a steep stone ramp coming to a painful and breathless halt on the rough, wet stone floor. She yelped as Lindsey landed on top of her and then yelped again as he grabbed her shoulder and dragged her up and along the floor towards a dark, wooden door in the corner.

They threw themselves against it and it burst open sending them once more to their knees with their own momentum and then Lindsey spun to slam the door shut and gratefully throw the thick steel bolt on the back of the door. Cordelia pushed to her feet and, seeing the broad wooden beam against the side of the door, snatched it up and dropped it into place just as the first body slammed into the door on the other side. The door shuddered but held under the assault and both humans sagged in momentary relief only to give simultaneous screams as a voice said behind them

“Can I help you?”

They spun round crashing together in their haste and stared with wide eyes at the small, wizened woman holding a candle in one hand and the front of her nightdress together in the other. Cordelia rolled her eyes as her heart started to beat again and turned to Lindsey

“Could you people be  _ any  _ weirder? What’s next? A dragon sleeping on the big pile of gold and a virgin sacrifice?”

Lindsey smirked as his own heart began to slow 

“Well, it’s not like you need to worry is it?”

Cordelia’s eyes narrowed and she took a menacing step towards him but before she could do any more the little woman said

“Are those people bothering you, dears? Give me a minute.”

She closed her eyes and began to chant under her breath and then suddenly the angry howls were replaced with agonised screaming and then a very tense silence. Cordelia backed up to beside Lindsey and fished inside her bag for a crucifix and some holy water. She shoved them at the lawyer and gripped her axe again muttering

“My life is just  _ never _ normal.”

She raised her voice and said firmly

“Ok, Ma Walton, one move towards us and I’ll fry your crinkly butt like you wouldn’t believe.”

The woman smiled gently and pushed a buttery lock of faded hair from her eyes and placed the candle on a low wooden table

“Don’t worry, my dear. You have nothing to fear from me. Please come in and sit down.”

Cordelia cocked her head to the side and allowed her eyes to drift around the spacious stone chamber taking in the wide low bed, scattered easy chairs and thick colourful tapestries hanging on the wall

“No offence, but I don’t think so. When a person living in the bowels of Evil Lawyer city tells me to trust them it’s not really an offer of a lifetime deal. You know what I mean?”

She flashed a smile and said quickly

“Although not knocking the whole killing of our enemies thing. Can’t tell you how much I appreciate that.”

The woman laughed quietly and said with a twinkle

“Oh I like you. The last Seer I met was all officious piety and martyrdom, an absolute bore of a girl. You’ve got a bit of personality.”

Cordelia narrowed her eyes in suspicion

“Did you eat her? Torture, maim or kill her in any way?”

“Certainly not! Although I can’t say I wasn’t tempted at times.”

Cordelia lowered her arm slowly

“I’m sorry, I can’t trust in just your word.”

She sounded genuinely regretful and the woman smiled approvingly in response

“Good girl, brains as well as courage. Not something you see that much of nowadays.” 

She turned slightly so her body obscured her hands from Lindsey’s view

“Will this convince you?”

Lindsey saw Cordelia glance down and her eyes widen and then she reached out and laid her hand on the woman’s arm. He could have sworn he saw a brief glow before she pulled her hand away and dipped her head in an apologetic and respectful bow

“Sorry. You never know who’s who in this biz.”

The woman stood on her tip toes and brushed her lips over Cordelia’s bowed forehead and bowed in response and then grinned

“Ain’t that the truth. You hungry?”

Cordelia’s head came up quicker than a quick thing and she breathed

“God, yes!”

The woman tucked her hand through Cordelia’s arm and led her over to the nearest chair completely disregarding the young lawyer saying comfortably

“Have a seat and I’ll fix you something. I’m Wanda, by the way.”

Cordelia sank into the deep blue cushions with a grateful sigh

“Cordelia Chase.”

She tipped her head back and nearly groaned with pleasure as the soft material caressed her skin and hair. One languid hand rose and waved vaguely in Lindsey’s direction

“Lindsey McDonald. Part-time lawyer, full-time pain in my ass.”

The woman, Wanda, turned to face the bewildered young man and said doubtfully 

“Lindsey? Isn’t that a girl’s name?”

  
  
  


Gunn and Wesley stamped down the tunnel in horrified silence, each trying to suppress the images of the dead bodies they had left behind them. Gunn swallowed again as he saw the little baby and its mother and increased his grip on his axe until his muscles sang with strain. He stopped as Wesley held up his hand and then sniffed as yet another unpleasant odour assaulted his nostrils

“Aww, man.  _ Now  _ what?”

Wesley shushed him and walked slowly forward until he passed through the narrow entranceway. He turned a confused face back to Gunn as the other man waited in the tunnel

“We appear to have found the villain’s evil spa.”

  
  


Cordelia sighed in satisfaction as she drained the last of the sweet fresh water from her wooden cup and placed it on the table beside her. She rubbed the head of the large dog that watched her adoringly from her knee and looked up at Wanda as the woman stirred a large pot over the fire 

“So what’s your deal? How come you ended up here?”

The woman tasted something from her ladle and smacked her lips together in satisfaction

“About another fifteen minutes. Do you want some more bread?”

Both Cordelia and Lindsey waved away another portion of the delicious homemade bread and watched as the older woman lowered herself into a chair next to the fire. She rubbed her hands in the glow for a moment and then smiled at them

“I live here. Have done for about fifty years. I used to work the down end of the market for the Powers, you know, watching over lost children, guiding restless spirits to their otherworldly reward and then one day I got a message from a Seer. Told me a major new power was due to arise and I was the only one in all the world…yadda, yadda, yadda.”

She drew the cloth of the dark red robe she now wore more closely around herself and smiled grimly

“So, I come trotting over to Wolfram and Hart all ready to smite the unworthy and I kick some demon butt and in all the commotion I come down here and I find some people. For the most part people from Evil Inc upstairs but some were innocents and as such I couldn’t leave them here. I stayed and fought to free them and then one day I found the door to this room and then the entrance to the world this space belonged to. Desperate beings who were being overrun and abused by the evil creatures of this organisation and that needed a saviour. Before I knew it over a decade had passed and this place became my home.”

Cordelia whistled softly in admiration

“You’ve been here ever since, fightin’ the fight?”

Wanda smiled and her shoulders squared as she sat in the chair

“Yup, being as big a pain in the ass as I can manage to the boys upstairs. Of course it’s not without it’s problems. Once they realised I had no intention of leaving no matter what they threw at me, and they had some stinkers of plans let me tell you, they attacked my family and took my son from me.”

Cordelia frowned

“Your son? I thought you lived here alone.”

Wanda laughed and smoothed a hand over her hair

“Hell, no! I was quite the looker in my day, lovey, there was never any way I was spending my nights in a cold bed. No, I married the head of the resistance about five years in and had me a family. Three boys, two girls and eleven grandchildren we had and I never regretted a minute of it.”

Her face darkened and for a moment tears shimmered in her eyes

“A new guy took over upstairs about twelve years ago and once he found out about me he didn’t rest until he found some way of stopping me. He managed to capture my eldest son seven years ago. My husband had just passed on and I was feeling a little lost, otherwise it would never have happened. He took my son and had him cursed to remain in his beast form and erected a barrier confining me to this dimension. The tunnel you came from is the limit of where I can go and he imprisoned my son on the other side.”

Cordelia’s hand froze in the dog’s fur as the cold realisation washed over her. Wanda continued with tears streaming unnoticed down her cheeks

“He kept my son as a beast and used him as an executioner for his enemies. I saw him sometimes, hunting down some poor person and savaging them as they begged for mercy and I would try to call him to me but he was too far-gone. He never heard me.”

She dipped her head and in the silence Cordelia and Lindsey exchanged horrified glances. Lindsey reached out to Cordelia and gripped her shaking hand as he cleared his throat

“I think there’s something you should know.”

  
  



	8. Chapter 8

Title: Lockdown

Author: Karen

Rating: Erm. . . not sure of the net version but definitely at least a twelve/fifteen in the cinema.

Feedback: God yes! A little help here people.

Disclaimer: Not mine and sadly never will be.

Pairing: Cordelia/Lindsey

Timeline: Season two, directly after Angel fires the gang.

A/N: Well, it’s been a while so I think first of all apologies are in order. I have to ‘fess up to getting horrendously distracted by other fics and stuff and this one has been left to linger horribly in the dusty depths of my PC. I actually had ‘Lock 8’ already written a few weeks ago and then I got a virus and my PC ate it. Obviously v. dispirited after that and just couldn’t re-write it until now. So sorry about the huge gap between posts.

Second, a little reminder is probably needed. So, the story so far…….Cordelia has gone to the offices of Wolfram and Hart to look for something to aid her in getting rid of Darla and bringing Angel back into the fold. She’s run into Lindsey and bested him in a fight, then suffered a horrible vision telling her that Linds is in trouble and the offices are swarming with demons looking to kill him. Much fun and games later they find themselves trapped in a hidden cave network within the offices and stumble across a secret execution chamber where untold numbers of people have met a gory end. Cordelia successfully baits and defeats the creature, a werewolf, who then turns back into his human form and begs her to kill him before he can heal and slaughter more innocents. She does as the man asks and then is forced to turn to Lindsey for comfort. The demons chasing them finally find a way into them and the pair run, only to stumble through a door and into a forgotten warrior of the PTB. The woman deals with the immediate threat of the demons and then invites the two to rest a while. Whilst they re-charge and grab some food the woman tells them of her life and the sad fate of her eldest son who was snatched from her and forced to remain in his beast form by a powerful curse. He has been separated from her for many years but she still catches glimpses of him from time to time as he hunts down and kills his victims in the tunnels and caverns around her home. Cordelia and Lindsey realise they have killed her son. Meanwhile Gunn and Wes are in hot pursuit of the other two and are fighting their way through the offices determined to find Cordelia and bring her to safety. Oh, and the bad guys think Cordelia’s a Slayer. Don’t ask, it’s like this whole big thing. 

Ok ::rubs hands together:: that about covers it I think. Enjoy!

Dedication: First and foremost to Jen. She’s my beta and she’s been terrific over all the stopping and starting on this fic and I can’t thank her enough. Jen, you ROCK. The rest of my girls Mel, Ina, Ianthe and Wicca. All are fabulous and I’m very grateful for all the support and laughs they’ve given me this summer. Naked Chocolate Spike for all! Except Jen, she gets Naked Chocolate Lindsey ‘cos she beta’d the damn thing.

  
  


Part 8.

  
  


Gunn stared at the tortured shades on the wall and then the crisp piles of meat smoking on the floor

“Cordelia’s got GAME.”

Wesley nudged the nearest pile of remains with his shoe 

“What do you think they are?”

The younger man sniggered

“Damn sorry they ever followed Cordy down this tunnel.”

He caught Wesley’s exasperated glare and shrugged carelessly

“Who the hell cares what they were? I’m just glad it’s them and not Cordy.”

Wesley sighed and watched as a deep fried horn rolled down the side of a charcoaled mess and crumbled into ash on the floor

“Agreed. We should move on, they can’t be that far ahead of us.”

Gunn gave a last admiring look at the sad, smoking remains on the floor and followed his partner from the small chamber

“You think she pulled the old booze-soaked-cloth trick on them?”

“Only if she used napalm, Charles.”

The sound of their footsteps faded away and slowly a door melted back into existence on the wall they had been paying such close attention to scant moments before.

  
  
  


Cordy jumped as the door to the small bathroom opened and Lindsey stuck his head in

“You ok?”

“Hello? Having a naked moment here, knocking would be good.”

Lindsey ignored the caustic tone of voice and slipped inside the room, shutting the door behind him. He caught her arm as she turned from him, pulling the soft towel she wore more tightly around her

“Cordelia, quit being such a hard-ass and look at me.”

She met his eyes furiously and tried to pull her arm from his grasp, his grip tightened and she spat angrily

“Let go of me.”

Lindsey stared searchingly at her red-rimmed eyes and drawn face and for the first time in a long time felt the stirring of concern for another living being. He loosened his hold and raised his other hand to her face, ignoring her instinctive flinch and hiss of warning

“You look tired.”

Cordy rolled her eyes and hitched the towel up another inch as it began to slip

“Ya think? Gee, I wonder why that could be? Will you let me go?”

Lindsey tilted his head to one side and looked at her appraisingly, smiling curiously

“Is this how you used to be with Angel? All brave and true and then hiding in the bathroom to cry yourself sick where no-one can see?”

Cordelia snorted contemptuously and side-stepped the question

“I have not thrown up.”

#  _ This time _

She tossed her head and her damp hair slapped against her naked back

“I happen to have a little something called a spine. You should look into getting one, they’re a great investment.”

Lindsey smiled at the kiss-my-ass tone and said neutrally

“I’m sure they come in very handy when you have to tell someone you’ve just slaughtered their firstborn.”

She sucked in a breath as though she’d taken a direct hit to the stomach and the colour left her face. Lindsey nodded to himself and pushed her unceremoniously to a small stool behind her

“Thought so. Sit.”

Cordelia stared at the young man as he filled a wooden cup from a pail, blinking back yet more tears, whispering huskily

“You bastard.”

Lindsey nodded agreeably

“Yup. Drink this.”

He cupped the back of her neck and held the cup to her lips nodding in approval as she took a reluctant sip

“Have some more.”

Cordelia glared at him and tried to work up the energy to shove him away. Lindsey narrowed his eyes at her and flexed his fingers in warning

“Have. Some. More.”

She weighed up her options and, deciding it wasn’t worth the effort involved, took another few shallow sips of the cool water. Lindsey gave her a small smile and placed the cup on the floor, moving to slide down the wall and rest his exhausted body. A silence grew between them as they both became lost in thought. Finally, after some minutes, Cordelia spoke

“She thanked me.”

Lindsey flicked a quick glance at her but her eyes remained glued to the floor

“She did.”

Cordelia’s face crumpled slightly as she whispered in disbelief

“She actually thanked me for killing her son.”

Lindsey weighed up his options quickly and quickly discarded sympathy. The last thing he needed for Cordelia to dissolve in a pool of self-condemnation and pity when they still had to fight their way to freedom. He purposely made his tone careless

“What did you expect her to do? Cleave your head from your shoulders and feed your body to her family?”

Cordelia’s head snapped up and her mouth fell open in shock at the callous words. Lindsey looked back at her coolly and continued

“You call yourself a warrior but you haven’t got what it takes, not when it counts.”

“How can you say that?”

Lindsey waved a hand through the air

“Look at you. Preaching to me all night about how tough your life is and how hard the never-ending fight is on you and the first time you make a tough call you cave. You have no idea how to live with the decisions you make and move on.”

Cordelia’s eyes flashed and her shoulder’s straightened

“You sonofabitch!”

Lindsey hid a grin of triumph as she began to vibrate with outrage and re-newed energy

“Get over yourself, Chase. Life doesn’t always revolve around you, you know. You killed tonight to save a soul and end suffering, it’s not about your pain.”

His voice softened and he cocked his head to the side watching as her mouth open and shut in bewildered anger

“You did what you had to and that woman out there knows it. She’s grateful there was enough of her son left to make the choice at the end and she’s grateful you were there to help him. Let it go.”

Cordelia shook her head and tried to force her vocal chords to unfreeze. She shook from reaction and anger at his words and was even more astounded to realise he was right

<My night is now complete. Evil-devil spawn’s now telling me how be a warrior for the good guys. Can my life get any weirder?>

Lindsey gave her another cocky grin and climbed to his feet 

“Now shift your ass and get some clothes on. Other people need to use the facilities you know.”

Cordelia blinked as he opened the door and said abruptly

“Lindsey!”

He turned and raised an enquiring eyebrow

“Thanks.”

His face flushed with suprised pleasure and he gave a quick nod before exiting the room. Cordy shook her head and took a deep breath

<Do like the man says, Chase. Get some clothes on!>

She stood up and then froze in horror as she looked down at herself and the towel barely stretching from the tops of her nipples to the tops of her thighs

<Oh god! I had that conversation wearing a hanky. It’s official, god hates me>

  
  
  
  


Gunn and Wes edged warily down the damp tunnel towards the glow of light at the end

“Hey English?”

Wesley jumped slightly at the soft whisper and then hissed back

“Yes?”

“You think we’ll find her in time?”

Wesley swallowed at the suppressed fear and worry in the deliberately casual tone and took a moment to make sure his reply came in a steady and confident tone

“Yes, we will find her in time. She will be whole and she will be healthy and she will be alive. We won’t allow anything else to be the case.”

Gunn closed his eyes briefly and then gave a sheepish grin at the back of Wes’ head

“Just checkin’”

  
  
  


Cordelia perched on the edge of a chair as she watched Wanda move around the room, gathering together things for the meal they’d agreed to have before they left

“Do you hate me?”

The older woman took a deep breath and turned to face the now clothed Cordelia. She let her eyes drift over the loose white shirt and tight leather pants she had found for the girl and then rested them on the white face

“Yes, a part of me does, but not for the reason you think.”

She walked slowly over to Cordelia and sat on a stool next to her, taking her hands in her own 

“I hate that you had the strength to do what I could never do. The barrier only stopped us from crossing over to each other; it never stopped other objects going through. I could have waited until he appeared and ended it with an arrow at anytime but I never had the courage. You saved my son from himself and I failed him, for that I can’t forgive you or myself. It took a lot of character to do what you did and I hate you for having something in you that I didn’t.”

She squeezed Cordy’s hand gently and gave her a smile as the girl met her eyes

“But now I know it’s over and his human soul has gone to its just reward and for that I’m in your debt.”

Cordy gave a tremulous smile and Wanda gave her arm a brisk pat

“Now, go call your young man and let’s eat, you need to get moving.”

Cordelia’s brows snapped together

“He is not my young anything!”

Wanda threw a mischievous grin over her shoulder as she began to ladle stew into smooth, wooden bowls

“Uh-huh. Whatever you say.”

Cordelia leapt to her feet and looked horrified

“Whoa, there Cupid. SO not happening with Evil Incorporated and me. He’s tried to kill me one too many times for anything groiny to happen. Ever.”

Wanda shrugged and poured deep, red wine into crystal goblets

“Everyone makes mistakes.”

“He tried to KILL me.”

“And I’m sure he’s very sorry.”

Cordelia blinked at the soothing tone and then span around with a shriek as Lindsey’s voice came from directly behind her

“Who’s sorry for what?”

  
  
  


Wes pushed open the door before him and peered, blinking into the bright light of an office. He edged out and looked around and then motioned for Gunn to join him

“I think it’s clear.”

Gunn followed him out and they both froze as a voice said behind them

“Think again.”

They turned and watched in amazement as three demons melted out of the solid wall behind them. Wesley nodded wearily as Gunn muttered under his breath “Uh-oh.”

“My sentiments exactly.”

  
  
  
  


End Part 8.


	9. Chapter 9

Gunn ducked and swore as he took a solid punch to the side of his head. Lights went off behind his eyes and he stumbled down to one knee and then yelled with pain as he took a brutal kick to the kidneys. He shook his head and tried desperately to focus on the demon attacking him but the damn thing kept fading in and out of his sight. He pushed himself to his feet again and swung wildly with his axe, cold sweat running into his eyes and blinding him further as he realised he was in a fight he couldn’t win. He risked a glance over his shoulder and saw that Wesley didn’t seem to be having any more luck than he was. A loud crash sounded as the Englishman was thrown into the wall. Gunn winced, in fact considering that Wesley had drawn the short straw and was battling two of the peek-a-boo demons he was probably a few rungs lower than Gunn on the ladder of luck. 

The black man swung out with his axe once more and spun round in a complete circle, carried by his own momentum and completely failing to hit anything of a demonic persuasion. “Goddammit!” The yell of frustration echoed off the walls and then Gunn was sent flying to the floor once more. The axe flew out of his hand and he looked up just as the flat of a foot stamped down on his unprotected head and turned the world off for a while.

Wesley groaned as he was dragged to his feet and his eyes widened in alarm as he saw his friend get kicked unconscious and the suave demon that was leading the opposing force saunter into the room. The former Watcher hung between the demons holding him, dripping blood onto the floor and watched as the deceptively normal looking creature approached him. Wesley’s eyes widened as a sharp spike shot from the man’s arm and stopped millimetres away from his throat. “Oh dear.”

****************************

Cordelia hugged Wanda to her. “Are you sure you won’t come with us?” She stepped back and looked around the dank cave outside Wanda’s quarters. “We can find some way to lift the barrier.” 

“And leave all this?” Wanda’s lined face screwed up in fake horror. “What are you nuts?” She patted a wrinkled hand against Cordelia’s cheek and smiled. “No, the rest of my family are down here and I don’t belong up there anymore. Besides, I go topside and the Powers may suddenly notice that I’m alive and kicking and before I know it I’m back in the game.” Wanda’s teeth flashed in the flickering lights from the bulbs. “I’ve earned my rest, I think.”

“You bet your ass you have.” Cordelia stepped back and adjusted the hang of her replenished weapons bag. “Thanks for the food and the clothes and…well, for everything.” The girl smiled awkwardly. “I don’t know what we’d have done without you.”

“Pfft.” Wanda waved a casual hand through the air as she turned to Lindsey. “Anyone would have done the same. As for you, young man…” Lindsey’s eyes widened as she bussed him enthusiastically on each cheek. “Don’t be a stranger. Little Miss Know-all-See-all over there can’t exactly pop in for coffee, but you’re just upstairs.” Wanda tipped Lindsey a lavacious wink and drawled. “Come down and see me some time, big boy.”

Cordelia took

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a gap between this chapter and the next.


	10. Chapter 10

Cordy pulled herself from Grue’s arms as the frightened screams grew louder around them, she stared around and then followed the eyes of the crowd to the roof of the palace. There outlined against the night sky was another of the priests and he had dragged the device for killing the human slaves out with him and was staring down on the assembled crowd with a cruel sneer on his face. She felt the hum as the device gathered strength and knew she had only seconds to act, abruptly kicking off her high sandals she shouted 

‘Angel, boost me!’ 

and grabbed Grue’s short handled axe. She began to run towards Angel who had dropped into a crouch with his hands loosely linked as she picked up speed she heard a familiar voice scream out and then her foot touched Angel’s hand and he heaved and she was flying. 

For a moment she thought she had overshot and that Angel in his desperate throw had overcompensated and she would come down in the fields beyond and then she was falling to land in a bone crushing pile on the unforgiving stone roof. She took two seconds to herself and then rolled to her feet and raised the axe and began to run at the priest as his hand lowered to the glowing surface of the sinister machine. The impact as she slammed into his side send agonising waves through her already abused body but she managed to stay on top of the struggling figure as she once again crashed to the stone floor. 

The air crashed out of the enraged figure beneath her but he was still amazingly strong and Cordy managed only two glancing blows with her axe before she was backhanded away from him to sail into the low wall behind them, her head rang with a thousand bells as the priest struggled to his feet and staggered back to his terror device. Cordy sobbed as she tried to regain enough coordination to bring herself upright but black spots burst behind her eyes and a wave of nausea had her slumping back against the wall as she fought to remain conscious. 

Her eyes closed briefly for a moment and then when she opened them she was amazed to see bodies raining down around her. The priest was blocked from her view for a split second and then she saw his head fly over the wall as everything beneath the neck fell to the floor and then her world suddenly got a whole lot noisier. 

‘Cordy! Cordy! Can you hear me?’ 

She tried to focus on the face in front of her but all that she could see was a black blur against an even blacker sky, that blur moved to be replaced by a glowing white blur that began shouting at her just as urgently but her ears were ringing too much to make sense of what was being said. She closed her eyes and then snapped them open again in outrage as her face was none to gently slapped and the black blur and the white blur began to furiously argue over her head, she felt the world begin to spin and a black hole opened up before her and she gratefully threw herself into the void.

Unfortunately that was the moment Lindsey erupted onto the rooftop a stolen sword in hand and in the grip of furious terrified battle lust. From the moment he had first glimpsed Cordy in the middle of the savage battleground his one thought had been to get to her and drag her to safety, when he had seen the leader of the palace troops fall and the rest obey Cordy’s command to lay down their weapons he had started across the space between them unsure whether to kiss her or kill her himself and then a black haired giant had clasped her in his arms and she had allowed herself to be held without so much as a biting comment. He was still twenty paces from her when she had seen the danger that the slaves were still in and had been forced to watch as Angel had thrown her into the night sky. Lindsey was sure she had heard his scream of fear and protest but she hadn’t so much as glanced around and it had been left to Angel to deal with the enraged lawyer as he had crashed into him seconds later. 

‘You could have killed her!’ 

He struck at the vampire in a blind rage ignoring Angel’s shouts of protest and his efforts to push him away until finally the vampire had lashed out in desperation and smacked Lindsey so hard around the face he had spun twice before he hit the ground. Through tears of pain he had watched as first Gunn and the Wes raced towards Angel and were both boosted after Cordy and then Angel had spun and had thrown himself onto a nearby building and began to scale the nearly sheer wall of the palace after his friends. Lindsey had come to his feet and taken off like a madman snatching a sword from the chest of a dead guard as he ran and then he had thrown himself into the nearest doorway to find the stairs to the roof. 

The pain in his chest from his headlong dash up flights of stone steps was nothing against the pain he felt when he saw Cordy lying between Wes and Gunn unconscious, his feet hit the floor as Gunn smacked her across the face and he was able to see the ticked expression on her face just before she passed out again. Then he was there pushing the arguing men aside as he sank in a heap beside her and gathered her into his arms he pushed her hair back from her face roughly and her tiara became tangled, with one quick yank it came free and he cast it carelessly over his shoulder ignoring the annoyed yelp from Gunn as it bounced off his forehead. 

He looked around at the touch of a hand on his shoulder and the concerned face of Wesley looked back at him 

‘I really don’t think you should be doing that Lindsey.’ 

His lips drew back in a snarl and jerked his shoulder out from under the man’s hand ‘Someone’s got to do something and I’m damn sure hitting her isn’t going to help.’ Wesley drew his hand back and shrugged 

‘You maybe right, however I am not going to be the one to explain to her when she wakes up that the appropriate measures of first aid were thought to be pulling off her jewellery and throwing it away.’ 

Lindsey glanced between Cordelia’s pale face in his arms and the Englishman above him 

‘ _ What _ ? Do you really think she’ll care about her stupid headband at a time like this?’ Gunn snorted behind Wesley and leaned forward to slap Lindsey around the back of the head 

‘This is Cordelia Chase right? You really think she’s gonna accept we were worried she might have severe cranial trauma as an excuse for losing her diamonds? Please and you say you know the girl.’ 

He stepped around Wesley and slid his arms gently under Cordy’s limp body and kept his voice low and unthreatening 

‘Let me take her for you and we’ll go get her some proper treatment and take care of her sparkly things at the same time. Come on just let go of her and we can all go down together.’ 

He eased Cordelia’s body towards him keeping eye contact with Lindsey the whole time and watched as the other man’s eyes turned liquid with pent up fear and worry 

‘I ..I don’t know what to do.’ 

Gunn nodded and tightened his grip on Cordy and then stood in one fluid movement ‘I know but I do. Wes take care of the rebels and secure the area.’ 

Out of the corner of his eye he saw Wesley open his mouth in protest at the order and then abruptly close it as he followed Gunn’s gaze down to Lindsey huddled on the floor with his gaze in turn fixed on Cordelia’s face. 

‘Angel!’ 

The vampire came forward to stand at Gunn’s shoulder and one hand came up to gently touch Cordy’s hair 

‘Help Lindsey up and follow me, we need to get her to a medic.’ 

Gunn felt the vampire stiffen and then the powerful body relaxed and he moved past Gunn to gently put his hands under Lindsey’s arms and lift him to his feet, the lawyer stared uncomprehendingly at his enemy for a moment and then nodded once holding Angel’s gaze. 

Angel gave a small smile and guided the smaller man after Gunn and his burden 

‘We need to get her some treatment and Gunn needs us to help him, it’ll be chaos down there. You up for that?’ 

Lindsey nodded and kept his gaze on the tall black man as he disappeared into the dark doorway leading down into the castle 

‘How can you all stay so calm seeing her like that?’ 

He felt his throat close again with fear and panic and turned his face from Angel not wanting the other man to see the emotions flooding his face and so he felt rather than saw the taller man flinch, he turned back to see a look of anxiety mirroring his own ‘The time for panic comes after we know she’s ok. If we let go now then we can make a mistake while we’re all thinking with our emotions rather than our heads.’ 

  
  


Lindsey shook his head at such cool words and then came to a sudden halt as Angel continued quietly 

‘When she was in hospital last year, after the visions and I knew she was safe I cried for two hours straight. I couldn’t move. I just sat there and cried.’ 

He met Lindsey’s eyes unflinchingly 

‘I’ve worked with Cordelia now for two years and known her for five and in all the things and people we shared not once have I ever cracked in front of them and the thought of what she faces night after night through her own choice fills me with terror but not once would I ever dream of telling her to stop. She does the things she does because she’s driven to by something inside and she needs me to be there to be strong and make sure she lives through one more day.’ 

He shook his head and raised a hand to drag through his hair 

‘What she doesn’t need is me falling to pieces every time she gets hurt and she doesn’t need to know that every time she does it’s like a stake in the heart.’ 

He started after Gunn and then swung back abruptly to stab a rigid finger at Lindsey ‘And if you ever repeat any of this conversation to her I will personally turn you and keep you locked in my basement for the rest of eternity to practise torturing techniques on, are we clear?’ 

Lindsey raised both hands in the air and nodded vigorously and his gaze was thoughtful as he followed Angel down the winding stairs.

Two hours later and things were quiet. Angel, Gunn, Wesley and Lindsey were grouped around Cordelia’s bed waiting for her to awaken and had just finished a light meal of bread and cheese brought to them by a frightened palace servant. Grue visited periodically but he was mainly kept busy with organising the castle and dealing with anxious villagers and palace personnel. 

The four men had managed to clean themselves up somewhat but their clothes still hung on them in dirty, tattered rags and all four faces betrayed the strain of the last few days. In front of the fire on a hastily prepared pallet bed lay the girl Fred sleeping fitfully in the glow of the logs. The four hadn’t talked much in the time it had taken to have Cordelia attended to and settled in the bed and the tentative alliance they had forged in the heat of the battle had once again become strained and awkward under old prejudices and grudges. A low groan from the bed brought them all to their feet and Lindsey slipped behind Gunn and Wesley as Cordy’s eyes slowly opened 

‘Did we win?’ 

The low question was barely audible as her eyes focused on the men standing around the bed and the tension flowed out of them as they grinned as one. Cordelia relaxed against the pillow and curled her fingers around Angel’s as he eased his hand into hers; she gave a wan smile and ran her tongue over dry lips 

‘Can I have some water?’ 

Wesley hurriedly poured her some into a wooden cup and slipped an arm under her head to assist her in taking a few shallow sips. 

Gunn grinned 

‘So, how do you feel?’ 

She sank back against the pillows and rolled her eyes wincing at the pain in her skull at the movement 

‘Like I ran head first into a brick wall.’ 

She swallowed painfully 

‘Tell me the other guy looks worse than I do.’ 

Gunn shrugged and patted her hand ‘Well you still have your head so I’d say yeah.’ She gave a weak smile at that and then frowned as the pain rolled over her again ‘God, I wish I had some aspirin.’ 

She looked up at Angel and smiled again 

‘Is everything ok? Did I stop him in time?’ 

He swallowed the lump in his throat and took a moment to make sure his voice was under control 

‘You did great, you bought us the extra time we needed to get up there.’ 

He smiled as her hand squeezed his briefly and added 

‘Although the sight of your broken and unconscious body was not what we were expecting to see when we did get up there. What have I told you? Tuck and roll not fly and crash.’ 

His heart lifted at the flash of pique that came into her eyes as she said bitingly 

‘Well excuse me Burt Reynolds but in the heat of a desperate fight for survival there’s not always time to politely ask your opponent to smack you in the direction of the open space rather than a solid wall. Particularly when you happen to be fighting someone of demonic strength.’ 

Her eyes drifted closed and then opened again 

‘Idiot.’ 

Angel grinned like a fool as his eyes met Gunn and Wesley’s and then he frowned slightly as he spotted Lindsey hiding behind their taller forms with an unobtrusive gesture he motioned them apart and turned back to Cordelia 

‘Cordy there’s someone else here to see you.’ 

In the time it took her to slowly to turn her head Wesley and Gunn swiftly stepped to the side and behind Lindsey effectively trapping him between them and the bed, Cordy’s eyes fell on him and then widened with sheer unadulterated panic as she assimilated the seemingly impossible fact of her ex-lover standing with her family glowering all around him. 

Her mouth opened but nothing emerged and her hand went ice-cold and began to shake in Angel’s light grasp, he gently took her hand in both of his and said quietly ‘Cordy it’s ok. He came here with us to rescue you.’ 

Her gaze flew back to his face and he said again 

‘It’s ok, he told us everything.’ 

He watched her colour drain away until her face was nearly the same colour as the pillow she lay on and then laid a hand on her cheek as tears began to fall from her eyes 

‘Cordy, it’s ok. Calm down.’ 

Shooting a swift look at Lindsey standing just as pale beside the bed he growled ‘McDonald get over here and say something.’ 

Lindsey froze in place until with the help of a non-too-gentle shove from Wesley he staggered around the foot of the bed to Angel’s side his mouth opened but nothing came out he closed it again and only the clearing of three male throats and some pointed flexing of muscles finally broke through his trance. 

‘I thought I’d lost you.’ 

Cordelia continued to watch him with wide wet eyes still unable to speak and Lindsey patted her awkwardly under three narrowed gazes 

‘I’m glad you’re ok.’ 

Gunn snorted and glared as Lindsey’s eyes met his 

‘That’s it? We’ve had your whiny ass following us around for the last three days and that’s  _ it _ ? The best you can come up with?’ 

He snorted again and he stared down at Coredelia 

‘The man was half out of his mind with worry and he was prepared to beat Angel bloody to let him come with us.’ 

He held up a hand as Angel and Lindsey both opened their mouths and continued loudly 

‘Now I’m not saying we all weren’t  _ extremely  _ pissed to find that you been sneaking off behind our backs to meet with evil Armani boy here, and don’t think that there won’t be some serious explaining to do once we’re home Barbie, but we all sat down and worked it out and now we’re friends. Right?’ 

He glared around at the other men and a hasty chorus of ‘Yeah, sure’ s’ were heard around the room accompanied by more vigorous nodding, he gave Cordelia a gentle smile and wiped her eyes 

‘Now calm down and get some rest. We’re all safe and nobody is trying to kill anybody else and that’s always a plus, right?’ 

He stepped back from the bed 

‘Well now we know she’s ok what say we get something to eat? I haven’t eaten in days.’ Wesley hastily kicked the incriminating tray with the remains of their meals under the bed and nodded in agreement 

‘Excellent idea. Angel you must be starving are you coming?’ 

The vampire leaned forwards and gently kissed Cordelia’s forehead 

‘Ravenous. Lindsey, will you stay with her until we get back? We won’t be long and then you can get something or we can bring you something back?’ 

Lindsey looked into the cool eyes above his and nodded 

‘If you could bring me something back that would be great.’ 

He cleared his throat and said almost inaudibly 

‘Thanks.’ 

Angel grinned back at him for a moment, genuinely amused by the strangled tone of voice used by the lawyer and then with a final squeeze of Cordy’s hand he followed the other two from the room.

There was a long silence following the gentle thump of the heavy wooden door and then Lindsey finally found the courage to raise his eyes to meet Cordelia’s he wasn’t sure what he expected but the blazing fury in the molten chocolate depths came as something of a surprise. 

‘What the hell do you think you’re playing at Lindsey? What exactly did you tell them?’ 

He opened his mouth to answer her but before he could even form the first word she swept on 

‘And you tried to kill Angel?  _ Again _ ? What the hell were you thinking?’ 

She stopped abruptly as Lindsey slammed his hand down on the small ornamental table at the side of the bed and it collapsed into a pile of jagged splinters, he barely noticed the screaming pain in his hand the rage that suddenly filled him was to intense for any other thought or emotion to register. 

‘What was I thinking? I’ll  _ tell  _ you what I was thinking! You were missing and your precious Angel had no idea how to get to you and was too damn stubborn to accept my help. Your stupid friends wouldn’t tell me what the hell was going on and I couldn’t find you without their help. I did attack Angel, with a very large and heavy wooden bat if that makes any difference, because that was the only option left open to me to find you. When that didn’t work I had to sit there and lower myself to grovel to that bunch of misfits and tell them everything about us, every little insignificant detail, to convince them that we had something between us. When we finally arrived on this stupid world we went through hell and back trying to find you, all the time sniping and not trusting each other an inch and when I do finally lay eyes on you you’re clinging to some throwback with Xena hair and getting your boss to throw you over three story buildings and then you nearly die before my eyes. So as for the whole thinking part of the equation I’ll be the first to admit not a lot going there. We were kind of busy running for our lives and being frantic with worry for you!’ 

He stopped abruptly as he ran out of air and stood before her panting and wild-eyed clenching and unclenching his fists with impotent fury at her reaction to seeing him.

Outside the door Angel, Wes and Gunn had their ears pressed flat to the door listening with wide eyes and bated breath to the outburst in the room. Gunn shook his head and gave a low whistle 

‘Evil lawyer’s toast now, ain’t nobody speaks to Cordelia like that and lives.’ 

Angel gave a smug grin and Wesley nodded his head in fascinated agreement.

Cordelia stared at Lindsey and then reached out a hand towards him 

‘I’m sorry Lindsey, I had no idea you’d be that worried.’ 

Her eyes filled with fresh tears as he sank down beside her and lifted her hand to his face in a shaky two-handed grip.

‘ _ What _ ?!’ 

Angel hastily clapped a hand over the outraged yell from Gunn as he fought to restrain his own astonishment and meeting Wesley’s eyes they dragged Gunn down the passageway ignoring several serving girls staring at them with amazement. He could barely contain his own incredulous reaction, Cordelia had apologised.  _ Cordelia _ ! And she hadn’t ripped off Lindsey’s balls and fed them to him! What the hell was going on? Obviously that blow to the head had affected her more than they thought, the minute they got back to LA he was taken her to the best damn brain specialist he could find.

Back in the room Cordelia and Lindsey sat in silence their hands clasped together and eventually Cordelia broke the silence 

‘Why did you come back?’ 

Lindsey gave her hand a gentle squeeze and rose from the bed suddenly desperate to put some distance between them and gain his equilibrium, he walked over to Fred and checked she was still asleep and then turned and faced Cordy as she lay back on the bed. 

‘You look tired. We can talk later when you’re feeling up to it.’ 

In truth she looked more vulnerable from the other side of the room than up close, from several feet away all he could see was the desperate frailty of her bruised body and the terrifying pallor of her normally lightly bronzed skin. He welcomed the excuse of not taxing her further and keeping her from her rest as a way to ward off the conversation he knew they had to have. 

Cordelia, of course, had other ideas 

‘I don’t  _ think _ so, Lindsey.’ 

She struggled to raise herself on her pillows biting back curses as her head swam and spots again flashed before her eyes, Lindsey crossed the room quickly and with his strong arm around her, and several inventive expletives echoing in her ears, she got into a semi-sitting position. Before he could move away again she grasped his wrist and said in a low serious tone 

’Lindsey what  _ are _ you doing here? Really?’ 

He laid one hand over hers and said in an equally serious tone 

‘I don’t know. I got as far as my hometown and lasted for three days before I had to come back. I came to the hotel and just watched for a while thinking I might catch you as you left one night and then you were never there.’ 

He gave a long sigh 

‘I don’t know what happened. You weren’t anything special and then you were all that I could think about and then you were all that mattered and now…’ 

His eyes locked on hers and he said in a voice that was almost too quiet too hear ‘Now you’re everything.’ 

He gave an embarrassed laugh and shrugged his shoulders as though his shirt had suddenly grown too tight 

‘It took everything I had left to walk into that hotel and ask to see you and then when I’d finally plucked up the courage to face Angel again I found you missing and him half crazed with fear and the others milling around like zombies.’ 

He shivered and his grip on her tightened until she flinched with pain and then he abruptly let go and jumped to his feet to pace restlessly around the room 

‘It shouldn’t have happened, this isn’t right.’ 

He rubbed his hands over his face in a quick frustrated move and glared at her 

‘That first night I was convinced you weren’t human I thought you were some kind of temptation demon and that my reaction wasn’t my fault but I was kidding myself. Look at me, a few months ago I had it all and now my life has gone and I have nothing and even after all that all I really want is you.’ 

Tears began to glisten in his eyes 

‘All I want is something that I have spent most of my working life fighting against and still you are the one thing I would give my life to have. The whole stupid package. The stupid heroic fights and the sacrificing your life for others and even your stupid, goddamn friends because they help keep you alive night after stupid endless night and I can’t bear the thought of you being hurt like this again and I know that you can’t stop what you’re doing.’  __

__ He became aware his voice was echoing off the stonewalls and that Cordelia was staring at him as though he had gone mad. Hell, maybe he had and he was about to wake up and this whole nightmare would be over and Lilah would be standing over him with that disdainful smirk on her face and the black hole where his soul should be would still be gloriously and marvellously empty. 

‘Have you finished?’ 

He winced at the savage tone of her voice and nodded swinging round to stare blindly at the wall hunching his shoulders in a futile attempt to ward off the scathing attack he knew was coming, Cordelia’s face softened briefly as she stared at his hunched miserable figure and then she remembered his angry words of a few moment before and the fury rose in her again 

‘First of all, you thought I was a  _ demon _ ? Do I look scaly and horrendously ugly to you?’ 

Her voice rose in disbelief as she stared furiously at his back 

‘What I have is one hundred percent god-given human sex appeal pal and don’t you forget it.’ 

She blew out an impatient breath 

‘And since I didn’t have any choice but to sit here and listen to you drone on about your lame life you can damn well turn around and look me in the eye like a man when I talk to you.’ 

She watched as he reluctantly turned around and faced her and then when she was sure she had his full attention looked him slowly up and down 

‘You have to be the most pathetic excuse for a man I have ever seen, not even Angel carried on this way about Buffy and god knows he could gold medal in heartbreak and anguish if he wanted.’ 

She sniffed as he flinched and continued mercilessly 

‘ _ You  _ left me. I didn’t ask you to go and now you have the nerve to come back and not only attack me for doing my job but for being the one person you would do anything not to love but you can’t help it? Well boo-hoo baby. You think you’re my ideal guy? Until a few weeks ago your idea of a leisurely weekend was planning an apocalypse and trying to kill my boss but I rose above it and tried to see the person beyond that and believe you me that was not easy.’ 

She leaned forward slowly 

‘I risked everything for you Lindsey not just my life and my friends lives but the lives of innocents everywhere because let’s face it you’re a pretty safe bet to turn tail and betray everyone near you if it means you come out ok. I didn’t know you weren’t using me in some elaborate plot to destroy my friends or undermine the Powers but I trusted the man I came to know and then I loved you.’ 

She took a deep shuddering breath and then her eyes resolutely met his eyes 

‘I love you still and I won’t stop but I want you to leave now and except when we travel back to LA I don’t want to see you again ever.’ 

She held up a hand to stop his instant reaction 

‘No Lindsey I mean it, I can’t tell you how much it means to me that you came but I want someone who’ll love me because of who I am not in spite of it.’ 

She shrank back against the pillow as he came towards her and whispered brokenly ‘Don’t make me call Angel.’ 

He stopped as though she had struck him and his mouth opened and closed as he sought for the words to make her change her mind and then as the tears began to fall from her eyes he turned abruptly and walked out of the room without looking back. She stared after him as the door closed and then yelled in outrage 

‘And you’ve turned my life into the Buffy and Angel re-run show.’ 

She sniffed back another threatening flood of tears 

‘You son of a bitch, you’ve turned me into another goddamn Buffy the Whiney Slayer.’


End file.
